Australian survivors could be asked to relive the horror of a fiery plane crash in Indonesia during the trial of a pilot accused of deliberately causing the disaster.

The prosecution of the pilot was unprecedented and could criminalise other commercial pilots, his lawyer warned.

Twenty-one people, including five Australians, died when the Garuda passenger plane overshot the runway and burst into flames at Yogyakarta airport in central Java on March 7 last year.

Another 30 passengers were injured, including five from Australia. Among the worst injured was journalist Cynthia Banham, who lost both of her legs and suffered severe burns.

But they were the lucky ones.

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 died.

As the trial of former Garuda pilot Captain Marwoto Komar got under way in Yogyakarta, prosecutors said Australian witnesses, including passengers and air safety experts, could be called to testify.

''We are trying to get them here,'' prosecutor Modim Risto said, without identifying potential witnesses.

Komar, who arrived at court dressed in his pilot's uniform, was formally charged yesterday with deliberately crashing the Boeing 737.

He is the first pilot to ever face criminal prosecution over a plane crash in Indonesia, which has an abysmal air safety record.

Before the hearing began, Komar said he ''deeply mourned'' the victims and hoped to fly again one day. Defence lawyer Muhammad Assegaf said his client would fight the charges on the grounds that international civil aviation codes ruled out criminal liability for pilots in crashes.

''We will at the very least question why the pilot is being criminalised for an accident. This has not yet happened anywhere in Indonesia or in the world,'' Mr Assegaf said.

''Punishing the pilot would give rise to fears among pilots that one day they could be treated as a criminal over an aircraft accident.

''It's impossible that a pilot could do this deliberately.''

Since the crash, Komar has been stripped of his pilot's licence and if convicted faces the prospect of a life jail term.

Lesser, alternative charges have also been laid. If found guilty on those counts he could be jailed for between five and 12 years.

Yogyakarta's Slemen District Court was told that Komar pressed ahead with the landing at a speed well in excess of what his co-pilot had recommended, and ignored 15 alarms to abort the landing.

''The defendant deliberately forced the landing by putting the nose of the Garuda Boeing 737 ... steeply down, so that the ground proximity warning system gave the signal 'whoop whoop, pull up','' an indictment read to the court said.

''The [co-pilot] looked or stared to the left at the defendant but the defendant didn't try to lift up the plane or cancel the landing, or go around. The defendant only wanted to reach the runway by making the plane dive extremely.''

The plane bounced along the runway three times, snapping its front wheel.

It then careered off the end of the runway, across a street and hit a wall before erupting in flames, the indictment said.

But Mr Assegaf said his client's efforts to reach the runway had ''minimised the number of victims''.

'' ... If he couldn't save [the aircraft] at least he could reduce the risk and that's what he did.''

Mellish's sister, Caroline Mellish, told ABC radio yesterday that accountability for the crash must go beyond the pilot.

''I think obviously he was flying the plane and was responsible for the crash in a lot of respects but there are far greater issues in regards to aviation in Indonesia, in regards to safety surrounding airports, in regard to pilot training,'' she said.

''Putting him in jail just says he was the only one that was responsible.''

Komar's trial is expected to run for months. The five Australians who died and many of the injured Australians were travelling to Yogyakarta for an official visit by then foreign minister Alexander Downer.