Belinyu, Bangka (ANTARA News) - Military (TNI) Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal Herman Prayitno said the Transportation Safety National Commission will mount a probe into the crash of a Malaysian aircraft in Belinyu, Bangka, on Friday.
"The investigation team of the Transportation Safety National Commission will soon go out into the field to find the cause of the crash of the Cessna trainer," he said in Tanjungpandan, Belitung, Friday night.
The Air Force Chief of Staff along with a number of Indonesian high-ranking military officers, is in Belitung to attend a military demonstration on Saturday involving a number of Indonesian Air Force combat planes, and will also be attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The air force chief of staff`s statement also eliminated speculations saying that the presence of the Malaysian aircraft was related to the show of power of the Indonesian air force combat planes in Belitung, a very strategic island directly facing Indonesia`s neighboring countries.
The Air Force Chief believed that the Transportation Safety National Commission will find the exact cause of the accident.
In the meantime, during a get-together of a number of government officials at the residence of the Belitung regency head, the air force chief said he had already received a report from Bangka Belitung (Babel) Police Chief Brig Gen Imam Sudjarwo saying that the Malaysian trainer crashed because it ran out of fuel.
In the meantime, another reliable source said that the Malaysian trainer was found upside down in the coast of Pesaren, Belinyu, Bangka, on Friday afternoon, but its pilot Rajib (23) and co-pilot M Nuraiman (25) survived the crash.
According to the source, the ill-fated small plane had engine trouble and went down in the coast of Pasaren, Belinyu, some 75 kilometers from Pangkalpinang.
The pilot and co-pilot were until Friday at 11.30 p.m West Indonesia Time still being questioned the Babel police headquarters.
The small plane, owned by EI.Admal, took off from Malaysia on a flight to Batam - Pangkalpinang - Pontianak - Kucing - Bengkulu, but crashed at 10.30 a.m when over Belinyu apparently due to engine trouble.
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