Small plane crashes in Papua; 4 killed

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Jayapura | Thu, 04/09/2009 8:08 AM

A small plane crashed into a hillside in Indonesia's easternmost Papua province Thursday, killing all four people on board, police said.

The Avia Star plane was transporting cargo from the provincial capital, Jayapura, to the nearby district of Wamena when it went down, said Maj. Gen. Bagus Ekodanto, the local police chief.

The bodies of the pilot, co-pilot and two other crew members were pulled from the smoldering wreckage, he said.

It's not clear what caused the accident, but a witness told the Antara news agency the plane was seen circling around the hill before tumbling from the sky.

Smoke billowed from the scene.

There are few roads in Papua, which occupies the western half of New Guinea, and air travel is a common form of transport.

It is considered one of the world's most dangerous places to fly. Many areas are mountainous and prone to dangerously low clouds and sudden weather changes.

Bad weather likely cause of crash

Yuli Tri Suwarni, THE JAKARTA POST, BANDUNG | Tue, 04/07/2009 8:40 AM

Litany of accidents: An aircraft hangar at Bandung’s Husein Sastranegara Air Force Base is seen with damage to its roof, after being hit Monday by a Fokker airplane that went on to crash into the tarmac amid heavy rain, killing all 24 Air Force personnel on board. JP/Yuli Tri Suwarni

The Air Force has blamed bad weather as the likely cause of Monday's deadly plane crash into a hangar when trying to land at an air base in Bandung during heavy rain.

The Fokker F-27 medium transport plane with tail number A-2703 had just returned from parachuting training session when the accident took place at about 1 p.m. at Husein Sastranegara Air Force Base.

The plane's six crew and 18 soldiers from the Air Force's Special Forces (Paskhas) were killed in the accident.

Monday's crash occurred just days before the Air Force celebrates its 63rd anniversary on Thursday.

Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal Subandrio said bad weather was the likely cause of the accident, with weather conditions at the time recorded as “TS RA”, or thunder, storm and rain.

Twenty-knot crosswinds were also recorded blowing from north to south when the airplane was trying to land coming from east to west.

Horizontal visibility from the tower was only 2 kilometers, with cumulus nimbus cloud formations hanging at an elevation of 1,500 meters.

“Complying with procedures, as the pilot could not see the runway, he was requesting a go-round,” Subandrio said at a press conference at the Air Force base.

“Tower officials did not see the airplane either when suddenly they saw smoke in the hangar.

“So the preliminary conclusion is [the accident occurred] because of bad weather.”

The plane, from the 2nd squadron based at Halim Perdanakusumah Air Force Base in Jakarta, crashed into the aircraft service hangar of state-owned aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI).

The base compound is shared with PT DI and a civilian airport.

The plane exploded into a giant fireball upon impact, leaving rescue workers with the difficult task of identifying the victims. One rescue worker said they could only find body parts scattered around the accident site.

There were five planes being serviced at the time in the hangar. A Deraya Air Service NC-212-200 suffered a smashed wing, while a Batavia Air Boeing 737-300 suffered minor damage.

Three other aircraft — an Adam Air Boeing 737-300, a CN-235 to be delivered to France and a Robinson light helicopter — were not damaged.

The Air Force has set up an internal investigation team without the involvement of the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT).

Subandrio stressed that the F-27, built in 1976, had been certified airworthy and in good condition.

“The crew would not have flown the plane had it been not airworthy,” he said.

Prior to the accident, the Air Force operated seven F-27s.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Djoko Santoso to conduct a “thorough investigation” into the incident.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said Yudhoyono had also ordered the military chief to check the airworthiness of all the Air Force’s aircraft.

“The military chief reported the incident to the President shortly after it occurred” Andi said in a press statement.

“An interim report says it was caused by the weather factor.

“President Yudhoyono expresses his deepest condolences to the families of Air Force officers and members who died in the accident,” he added.

The plane was manned by pilot Capt. I Gede Agustirta Santosa and co-pilot First Lt. Yudo Pramono. Subandrio confirmed Yudo was the son of Iskandar Muda Military Commander Maj. Gen. Soenarko.

Related Article

Military chief says Fokker 27 was cleared to fly

24 dead in Bandung military plane crash

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Bandung | Mon, 04/06/2009 6:48 PM

Air Force soldiers and families pay respect during the funeral of a number of victims of a military plane crash at Kalibata Heroes’ Cemetery in South Jakarta on Tuesday. The Air Force are investigating the cause of the incident which killed six crew and 18 Special Forces soldiers after the Fokker F-27 crashed into a hangar when trying to land at Husein Sastranegara Air Base on Monday. JP/J. Adiguna

During heavy rains on Monday a military plane carrying 24 people crashed into an airport hangar and burst into flames, killing everyone on board, an air force spokesman said.

Fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the scene, pulling bodies from the debris. Emergency workers carried charred parts of the downed Fokker 27 from the smoking hangar.

Air force spokesman Bambang Sulistyo said none of the 24 aboard the aging turboprop -- which was filled with trainees returning from a parachuting exercise -- survived. There were no casualties on the ground, he added.

It was not clear what caused the crash, which occurred as the pilot was trying to land during a heavy storm just outside the city of Bandung. Witnesses told Antara state news agency that the plane appeared to be shaking before diving to the ground.

"There was a thundering sound," said Budi Wuraskito, director of operations at the airport.

"The plane blew apart inside the hangar, which had several airplanes and helicopters inside."

Six crew, an instructor and 17 special forces trainees had been onboard the 32-year-old aircraft, Sulistyo said.

The country's air force has long complained of being underfunded and handicapped by a recently lifted US ban on weapons sales. It has suffered a series of accidents, including a Casa 212 plane that crashed during an aerial surveillance mission last year, killing 18 people.

A series of commercial airlines crashes in recent years has killed more than 120 people in Indonesia.

'It Sounded Like Thunder, Then All Hell Broke Loose'

The Jakarta Globe, Nivell Rayda & Muningar Sri Saraswati, March 28, 2009

See Also: The Situ Gintung Disaster: Special Coverage from the Jakarta Globe

“It sounded like thunder, and moments later all hell broke loose,” said Rachman, whose home is near the Situ Gintung reservoir, recounting the moment in the dark early hours of Friday when part of the high mound of earthen embankment at the northeastern end of the reservoir suddenly crumbled, sending water gushing down into the natural valley below.

Rachman, whose home was spared by the flash flood, said that he and other residents had been worriedly watching the bank of the reservoir as the water level was nearing the brim following recent rains in the area and in upstream regions.

“At about midnight [Friday], water levels almost reached the edge of the dike,” Rachman said.

“Residents saw that water was already leaking [from the bank] and it gradually got worse.”

A roughly 20-meter pan of the embankment finally crumbled under the pressure of the water at about 4 a.m.

The Situ Gintung dike, built by the Dutch more than 76 years ago, retained some two million cubic meters of water in the 21-hectare reservoir. Cracks had already become noticeable in the embankment there about a year ago, the local urban ward leader said.

Water gushing through the breach left the reservoir almost empty in just about 10 minutes. Rachman said he watched helplessly, and in horror, from a height as a torrent swept everything clear from its path.

The raging water swept through houses, most of them semi-permanent, and residential areas along its path before its force found a channel into the Pesanggrahan River about a kilometer away.

It destroyed hundreds of houses in three densely packed neighborhoods in Cireundeu, an urban ward in Banten Province with a population of around 30,000.

Most of the victims were caught in their sleep. An 8-year-old boy, Ferry, miraculously survived the flood and was found in his wet pajamas atop his neighbor’s roof. His mother and younger sister were found dead later, while his father and an elder brother remained missing .

Early risers were not spared. Many women had left long before dawn broke to shop at the main traditional market in Ciputat, about 2.5 kilometers away.

At about 7 a.m., one of the women returning from the market screamed hysterically as she discovered that her house was gone and her two sleeping little children missing.

“It should have been me, it should have been me,” she wailed.

Rescue teams rushing to the area were hindered by the thick sludge deposited by the water after the floods subsided, as well as piles of debris.

Dead bodies were still being found well into the afternoon, some inside houses still inundated. By late Friday at least 58 people had been found dead. Rescue and evacuation efforts were also hampered by the small and winding alleys in the slums surrounding the affected areas.

The water, flushing into the Pesanggrahan River, caused flooding as far away as the Rempoa area of South Jakarta, about four kilometers away from Situ Gintung, and cut off traffic on the Ciputat main road, inundating an important bridge there.

Temporary shelters and operational centers were set up at two private universities in the area, and most of the dead found were sent there for identification and for their families to claim. Others were sent to the Fatmawati General Hospital about 30 minutes away.

The three venues were packed with people looking for their missing relatives, checking bodies laid on the floor and covered by thin blankets or batik cloths.

Top government officials, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto and others, all converged on the site in order to be briefed on the disaster and to issue directives.

The officials pledged to help the survivors rebuild their homes and to construct a stronger embankment. Situ Gintung acts as one of the main fresh water reservoirs for the city.

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Plane crash in Montana cemetary kills seven kids, 14 people total

BY BILL HUTCHINSON, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER, Monday, March 23rd 2009, 2:35 AM

Guidoni/Montana Standard/Getty

A small, singe-engine plane burst into flames in Holy Cross Cemetery just south of Butte, Montana. All 14 people on board were killed, many of them children, federal aviation officials said.

Fourteen people, including seven children, heading for a ski trip died Sunday when their single-engine plane crashed into a Montana graveyard and burst into a fireball, federal officials said.

The aircraft, a 2001 Pilatus PC-12 with the seating capacity of only eight, nosedived into the Holy Cross Cemetery in Butte, 500 feet short of the airport, officials said.

"All of a sudden the pilot lost control and went into a nosedive," witness Kenny Gulick, 14, told The Montana Standard newspaper. "He couldn't pull out in time and crashed into the trees of the cemetery."

Citing preliminary information, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said everyone killed in the 2:30 p.m. crash was aboard the plane. There were no reports of injuries on the ground.

The turboprop plane had taken off from the small northern California town of Oroville about 11 a.m. and was taking passengers on a Montana ski vacation, said FAA spokesman Mike Fergus.

"We think that it was probably a ski trip for the kids," Fergus said.

According to a flight plan, the plane was headed to Bozeman, Mont., about 85 miles from Butte.

During the course of the 900-mile trip, the pilot canceled his flight plan and headed for Butte, Fergus said.

It was not immediately clear if the problems with the aircraft caused the pilot to divert from his original route.

Witness Steve Guidoni said he and his wife rushed to the crash site after seeing the plane plummet from the sky and explode into a fireball that sent flames shooting above the trees of the cemetery.

"I looked to see if there was anybody I could pull out, but there wasn't anything there. I couldn't see anything," he said. "There was some luggage strewn around ... there was some plane parts."

The plane originated from Redlands, near Los Angeles, and made a stop in Vacaville in the Bay Area, before heading to Oroville, according to the flight-tracking site FBOweb.com.

Tom Hagler, a mechanic at the Oroville airport, told The Sacramento Bee that he allowed several children ages 6 to 10 to use the airport bathroom before they boarded the doomed plane.

"There were a lot of kids in the group," he said, "a lot of really cute kids."

whutchinson@nydailynews.com

Burning plane

The Jakarta Post, Associated Press | Mon, 03/23/2009 3:04 PM

Firefighters and bulldozer try to dismantle fuselage of a burnt cargo plane at Narita Airport in Narita, Monday. The plane burst into flames after bouncing off a runway in unusually high winds, killing the pilot and copilot. (AP/Shuji Kajiyama)

Trams collide in Rotterdam, 39 passengers injured

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Rotterdam | Wed, 03/11/2009 10:47 PM  

Police say a fast-moving tram slammed into another that was waiting at a stop in Rotterdam and 39 passengers were injured. 

Spokeswoman Tinet de Jonge says police detained the driver of the moving tram for questioning as they investigate the crash Wednesday near a bridge in the city's residential west side. She says one tram hit the other hard from behind "for unknown reasons." 

Two city hospitals are treating the 39 people hurt including 10 with serious injuries including neck injuries and broken bones. Other passengers escaped with scrapes and bruises.

Cargo plane crashes in Uganda, killing 11

The Jakarta Post, Godfrey Olukya, Associated Press, Kampala | Mon, 03/09/2009 9:44 PM  

A cargo plane carrying equipment for African Union peacekeepers in Somalia caught fire and crashed into Uganda's Lake Victoria shortly after takeoff Monday, killing all 11 people on board, authorities said. 

The victims were seven passengers - three senior Burundian military officers, two Ugandans, an Indian and a South African - and four Russian crew members, Information Minister Kabakumba Matsiko said. 

The Ilyushin 76 was carrying water purifiers, pipes and other equipment for Ugandan troops who are part of an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, Ugandan army spokesman Maj. Felix Kulaigye said. 

The cause of the crash was under investigation, the Ugandan Civil Aviation Authority said. Kulaigye said eyewitnesses reported seeing the plane catch fire in the air before it crashed into the lake. 

Uganda has around 600 peacekeepers in Somalia, where the weak U.N.-backed government is battling an Islamic insurgency. It is preparing to send another 800 when funding for transport and logistics is in place. The peacekeepers guard the airport, port and main buildings where the Somali government is based, but not civilians. 

Burundi has 1,700 soldiers in Somalia. Burundi army spokesman Adolphe Manirakiza said the three Burundian soldiers included Brig. Gen. Ndikumana Salum, who is the deputy commander of Burundian peacekeepers in Somalia, a colonel and a captain. He said the plane crashed five minutes after takeoff. 

Air crashes are not unusual in Africa, where many airlines fly old or outdated aircraft - often from the former Soviet Union - and infrastructure is often not properly maintained. Some airlines are banned from flying in Europe.

Train hits truck, minivan, killing two

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 03/05/2009 6:14 PM   

A train serving Jakarta-Rangkasbitung routes hit a truck and minivan in railway gate at Jln. Bandengan Utara in North Jakarta on Thursday afternoon, killing two people and wounding others, kompas.com reports. 

All the injured passengers were rushed to to Sumber Waras hospital in Grogol of West Jakarta. 

Akhmad Sujadi, spokesperson for state-owned railway company PT KAI for Greater Jakarta area, confirmed about the accident but had yet to know the cause of the collision. 

“We have yet to ensure whether the truck and the minivan entered the railway track or not,” he said. (ewd)