An Indonesian pilot has pleaded not guilty to deliberately crashing a passenger jet last year, killing 21 people including five Australians.
"It is impossible that with experience of 22 years as a pilot I would deliberately crash the plane," Marwoto Komar told a district court in Yogyakarta, Central Java.
"I didn't have any intention to carelessly do things to harm the passengers," he said, wearing his pilot's uniform.
With his voice trembling, he added: "God please allow me to fly again."
A government probe found Komar ignored 15 automated cockpit warnings not to land as he brought the plane in at roughly twice the safe speed, causing the jet to bounce and burst into flames in rice fields.
The four Australian government officials and journalist killed were following a visit by then Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer, who was on a separate plane.
The victims were Australian diplomat Liz O'Neill, AusAID official Allison Sudradjat, Australian Federal Police Officers Brice Steele and Mark Scott, and Australian Financial Review journalist Morgan Mellish.
Prosecutors last month charged Komar with three counts of negligence and one count of "deliberately" destroying or damaging an aircraft causing death, charges that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Komar has had his pilot's licence suspended. He was sacked by Garuda in February.
On Monday, he pleaded for the court's leniency, saying he has already suffered enough.
"I need to convey that on Wednesday March 7, 2007, early before dawn, I left home full of responsibility for the job that I cherish, as a pilot," he said.
"There was not even the tiniest intention in me at that time to deliberately execute my job carelessly and irresponsibly.
"I would be happy if I could help all passengers reach their destinations safely. This is what I've been doing successfully in my 22-year career as a pilot.
"Despite my intentions, there was the accident which caused victims."
Marwoto, 46, said the accident had been a "heavy burden" for him and his family, who had already suffered the freezing of his flying licence, his unemployment and harsh community opinion.
"I feel proud of my profession as a pilot, and this job is the only source of income for my family," Marwoto said.
"My family and I feel very sad and struck ... that this incident has been considered a crime and I have been charged.
"I'm sad that all my efforts to save this flight mission ... has become grounds for charges, which say that I was deliberately negligent."
Marwoto's lawyer Mohammad Assegaf said the charges "seemed forced" and that authorities had shown "unprofessional behaviour".
He said prosecutors were trying to make Marwoto seem like the "terrorists" responsible for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when commercial jets were flown into New York's World Trade Centre.
"After we carefully read the prosecutor's indictment in this case, the blurring of the indictment material - especially in the formulation of the charges - is obvious," he told the court.
He said it was "not the authority" of the criminal court to resolve the case, and it should be handled by a special aviation court "with people with special expertise and specific knowledge of civil aviation law".
"The indictment made by the prosecutor is inaccurate, unclear and incomplete, and there is a mistake in the application of the law," Assegaf said.
Indonesia, which relies heavily on air links across the archipelago, has one of Asia's worst air safety records.