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Dozens feared dead as Indonesian military plane crashes on Sumatra Indonesian military plane crashes on Sumatra
(about 5 hours later)
Dozens are feared dead after an Indonesian military transport plane crashed shortly after take-off into a city on Sumatra island, exploding in a ball of flames in a residential area. More than 100 people on board an Indonesian military aircraft that careered into the side of a building and burst into flames just minutes after take off are feared dead.
The Hercules plane hit a hotel and houses in the northern Sumatra city of Medan on Tuesday, an official said. Twelve crew members and 101 passengers, including military officers and their family members, were on board the C-130 Hercules plane when it crashed shortly after leaving an air force base in Medan on Indonesia’s Sumatra island.
The air force chief, Air Marshall Agus Supriatna, said there were 12 crew and more than 100 passengers on the plane before it reached Medan but it is unclear how many were on board when it left. Air force chief Agus Supriatna told local Metro TV news he was doubtful there would be any survivors.
The plane was on its way from an air force base in Medan to the remote Natuna islands and crashed a few minutes after takeoff. “No, no. No survivors,” he said when asked about the possibility, “I just returned from the site.”
At least 49 bodies have been recovered and taken to Medan’s Adam Malik hospital. It was not immediately clear how many of the victims were in the plane or on the ground. The Hercules plane crashed into a residential area in the densely populated city of Medan two minutes after take off from the Soewondo air force base en route to drop off supplies to the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea.
Dramatic pictures on social media showed large crowds and emergency services gathering around the flaming wreckage, with the fuselage of the aircraft visible among thick plumes of black smoke. Buildings in the vicinity of the crash zone were also clearly damaged. Police and rescue teams have pulled 49 bodies from the crash site and transported them to Adam Malik general hospital in Medan to be identified.
Smoke billowed from the site and several thousand people milled nearby. Rescue teams scrambled over the rubble, searching for any survivors. Dramatic pictures of the scene uploaded to social media showed the wreckage of the aircraft in flames and a crowd of onlookers amid the plumes of thick smoke.
#BREAKING #IndonesianAirForce #C130 reg no. #A1310 crashed departing Medan Polonia otw Tanjung Pinang. pic.twitter.com/Yh0dB3HWV1#BREAKING #IndonesianAirForce #C130 reg no. #A1310 crashed departing Medan Polonia otw Tanjung Pinang. pic.twitter.com/Yh0dB3HWV1
Many passengers were families of military personnel. Hitching rides on military planes to reach remote destinations is common in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago that spans three time zones. “I saw the plane from the direction of the airport and it was tilting already, then I saw smoke billowing,” local resident Januar, 26, told AFP.
The plane had traveled from the capital, Jakarta, and stopped at two locations before arriving at Medan. The air force is still to trying to determine how many people got off or boarded during that journey. Other shots showed the side of one building gutted by the impact of the crash and damage to nearby buildings and cars.
Supriatna said the aircraft was produced in 1964, but was well maintained and was regularly used to transport personnel. “It’s an all-weather aircraft, our mainstay for transport aircraft,” he said. According to Supriyatna, the Hercules aircraft was conducting a routine logistics operation. Produced in 1964, the marshal said the aircraft was well maintained and regularly used to transport personnel.
It is the third Indonesian Air Force Hercules to crash since 2001, when a Hercules overshot the runway and burst into flames with no casualties, according to the Aviation Safety Network. But in the wake of the crash, angry lawmakers from the Indonesian parliamentary commission on defence have called on the government to replace its aging military aircraft.
In 2009, an Indonesian Air Force Hercules hit four houses before skidding into a rice field killing 95 people onboard and two on the ground, the group said. “We in the commission ask the government to buy new planes for the air force. The current fleet is mostly made up of old, poor-quality aircraft. It’s shameful that our soldiers still have to use them,” Pramono Aung told the Jakarta Post.
In December, an Airbus A320 run by AirAsia crashed on a flight from Indonesia to Singapore, killing all 162 people onboard. Indonesian military commander General Moeldoko has called for an investigation into the incident.
In the late 1990s and mid 2000s, a string of fatal plane crashes in Indonesia was blamed on the US military embargo put in place because of human rights abuses perpetrated in East Timor.
The embargo forced the Indonesian military to seek spare parts for its hardware elsewhere and fly planes that were in less than ideal conditions.
It was lifted a decade ago and Indonesian aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman said the air force had toughened standards since 2005: We don’t have an arms embargo so why is there a crash?” he said.
“The hangars are full with those [aircraft] that are not airworthy... The ones that are flying have to be kept airworthy. The air force is pretty strict about it now, as compared to 10 years ago.”
No details have been released regarding whether mechanical or human error led to the crash, but a witness said the plane was emitting smoke from at least one of its engines.
In 2009, an Indonesian air force Hercules hit four houses before skidding into a rice field killing 95 people on board and two on the ground. Last December, an Airbus A320 run by AirAsia crashed on a flight from Indonesia to Singapore, killing all 162 people on board.