Scores killed as Indonesian military plane crashes after take-off

[JeffLynne]

Scores killed as Indonesian military plane crashes after take-off in Sumatran city of Medan

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 30 June, 2015, 2:24pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 30 June, 2015, 10:14pm

Agence France-Presse in Medan

Indonesian rescuers search for victims of the crashed military airplane in Medan, North Sumatra. Photo: Reuters

At least 116 people are feared dead after an Indonesian air force transport plane crashed Tuesday into a major city shortly after take-off and exploded in a fireball, officials said.

Buildings were left in ruins and cars reduced to flaming wrecks when the Hercules C-130 came down in a residential area of Medan, a city of two million on the island of Sumatra.


Air force chief Agus Supriatna said the manifest showed there were 113 people on board the plane – 12 crew and 101 passengers – when it crashed, and he did not believe any had survived.

“No, no. No survivors, I have just returned from the site,” he told reporters in answer to a question.

So far, 49 bodies had been recovered and taken to hospital, he said.

Indonesian rescue personnel work at the crash site of military Hercules plane in Medan, North Sumatra. Photo: AFP

Many passengers were likely to be family members of servicemen and women, said a spokesman for Medan airbase, where the plane took off. At least one child has so far been confirmed killed.

The local search and rescue agency also said that three people were killed on the ground when the 51-year-old plane went down near a newly built residential area, hitting a massage parlour and a small hotel.

A rescue operation swung into action, with ambulances ferrying bodies from the site, and crowds of anxious residents gathering around a police cordon to view the smouldering wreckage.

Residents of Medan described the terrifying moment just after midday when the plane came down.

The crash happened about two minutes after take-off from Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo: SCMP Pictures

“It was very scary,” said Novi, an employee of an international school who goes by one name, describing how she heard the plane and saw it flying very low before the crash.

Another local resident January, 26, said the aircraft appeared to be in trouble just before the accident.

“I saw the plane from the direction of the airport and it was tilting already, then I saw smoke billowing.”

Medan’s police chief described bodies as being “crushed by debris of the buildings and the fuselage”.

Buildings in the vicinity of the crash zone were also damaged. It is not yet known how many casualties there have been. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed sorrow at the accident, tweeting: “May the families be given patience and strength... May we remain protected from disaster”.

The plane took off at 12.08pm from the airbase and crashed in the city about two minutes later, about five kilometres from the base, according to the military.

Shortly after take-off, the pilot had asked to return to base, Supriatna said, adding the aircraft might have suffered engine trouble.

But he added the plane was in “very good condition” and had made several stops before arriving in Medan.

Residents gather next to the crash site of a military Hercules plane in Medan, North Sumatra province. Photo: AFP

It was the second time in a decade that Medan had suffered a fatal plane accident. A Mandala Airlines domestic flight crashed shortly after take-off in 2005 into a densely populated suburb, killing at least 150 including passengers, crew and people on the ground.

Medan is the biggest Indonesian city outside the main island of Java and is a major economic centre.

The Indonesian air force has suffered accidents before.

The plane crashed five minutes after take off, officials said. Photo: AFP

At least 11 people were killed when a Fokker-27 military jet crashed into a housing complex in the capital Jakarta in June 2012.

In April an F-16 fighter jet caught fire as it was about to take off from an airbase in Jakarta, prompting the pilot to jump to safety as flames and thick smoke engulfed the plane.

The pilot escaped with minor injuries from the jet, which had been due to provide security at a summit of Asian and African leaders in Indonesia.

Indonesian police and military officials secure the crash site of military Hercules plane in Medan, North Sumatra province. Photo: AFP

Indonesia also has a poor civil aviation safety record, and has suffered many fatal crashes in the past.

An Indonesia AirAsia plane crashed in December en route from Indonesia’s Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people on board.

 

[JeffLynne]

Indonesia to review ageing air force fleet after Hercules crash killed more than 140 people

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 01 July, 2015, 12:45pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 01 July, 2015, 12:45pm

Reuters

Indonesian military investigators inspect the wreckage of the crashed C-130 military airplane at the crash site in Medan, North Sumatra. Photo: EPA

Indonesia’s president promised a review of the country’s ageing air force fleet and a defence modernisation drive, as the death toll from the crash of a military transport plane in the north of the country climbed past 140.

The C-130B Hercules aircraft, which went into service half a century ago, ploughed into a residential area of the city of Medan yesterday, throwing a renewed spotlight on Indonesia’s woeful air safety record.

“There must be an evaluation of the age of planes and defence systems,” President Joko Widodo tweeted, as earth movers worked through the night to recover the dead from rubble of twisted metal and smashed buildings.

The TVOne news channel said 141 body bags had been brought to a hospital near the crash site, all but two of which contained complete bodies.

Officials said the Hercules, which plunged into houses and a hotel two minutes after take-off, had been carrying 122 people which would suggest around 20 were killed on the ground by the impact of the plane.

The plane had been on its way from an air force base in Medan, one of Indonesia’s largest cities, to Tanjung Pinang in the Riau Islands off Sumatra. Media said the pilot had asked to return to the base because of technical problems.

Widodo said he had ordered an in-depth investigation into the cause of the accident, which may be the deadliest yet for an air force with a long history of crashes, and a “fundamental restructurint” of weapons management and procurement.

“We should not just buy weapons, but shift towards modernising our weapons systems,” he said.

“Our defence industry should be involved, starting from production, operation, maintenance. The main point is ... the procurement of weapons should ultimately move toward an independent defence industry.”

According to the Aviation Safety Network, 10 fatal crashes involving Indonesian military or police aircraft have occurred over the last decade.

The Indonesian air force has now lost four C-130s, reducing its transport reach in an archipelago that stretches more than 5,000km from its western to eastern tips.

The air force has grounded its remaining eight C-130Bs until investigators discover the cause of the crash.

The transport plane accident could bring pressure on the president to spend more on modernising the air force.

“This incident shows us that we must renew our aircraft and our military equipment,” Pramono Anung, a lawmaker and member of the parliamentary commission for defence, said in an interview.

“The Hercules is already old, many of our other systems are already old. As parliament we will support giving more funding to the military so that they can upgrade.”

Although Indonesia accounted for nearly one-fifth of defence spending by Southeast Asian countries last year, as a percentage of GDP the amount was the lowest in the region at 0.8 per cent, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute data.

Widodo, who took office last year, has said he plans to double military spending to US$15 billion by 2020.