An Indonesian court will proceed with the trial of a pilot charged with deliberately crashing a Garuda plane last year, killing 21 people including five Australians.
After considering preliminary arguments from prosecutors and lawyers for the Indonesian pilot, who has pleaded not guilty, judge Sri Andini ruled the case would go ahead.
"We rejected a plea of not guilty filed by the defendant's lawyer and decided to continue the hearing," the judge told Sleman district court in central Java province on Monday.
She said witnesses would be called when the trial resumed on September 15.
Five Australians travelling to Yogyakarta for an official visit by the then foreign minister Alexander Downer were among those killed when the Garuda plane went down on March 7 last year.
They 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.
A government probe found that former Garuda pilot Marwoto 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 nearby rice fields.
When Komar entered his plea last month, he said that with 22 years' experience as a pilot he would not have deliberately crashed the plane.
"I don't have any choice but to accept the decision," Komar said.
His lawyer, Muhammad Assegaf, said he was surprised by the judge's decision and that the court should consider international civil aviation codes, which rule out criminal liability for pilots in crashes.
But Andini noted in her ruling that "everybody is equal before the law, with no exception for a pilot".
Prosecutors 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 pilot's licence has been suspended. He was sacked by Garuda in February.
Indonesia, which relies heavily on air links across the archipelago, has one of Asia's worst air safety records.