F-16 crash blamed on weather<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung confirmed
\nyesterday that one person died when an Air Force F-16 fighter
\ncrashed on landing at the Halim Perdanakusumah military air base
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Feisal blamed the accident on the weather. \"The weather was
\nvery bad and it caused turbulence while the pilot was landing,\"
\nFeisal said.<\/p>\n
The pilot, Capt. Dwi Sasongko, died in the accident that took
\nplace at 1.20 p.m. The jet hit landing signals at the end of
\neastern runway and broke into several pieces.<\/p>\n
The aircraft belonged to the Madiun, East Java-based,
\nIswahyudi Air Force squadron. It had flown over Jakarta in a
\nroutine city safeguarding exercise before crashing.<\/p>\n
Air Force spokesman Col. Mirsyahban Ashfa said the accident
\nhappened while the air base was clouded in fog and heavy rain.<\/p>\n
Feisal ruled out sabotage. He also declined to speculate that
\nhuman error caused the accident, but said that a special Air
\nForce team was investigating the case.<\/p>\n
Dwi, 30, still single, graduated from the Air Force Academy in
\n1989. A member of Indonesia's Blue Falcon acrobatics team, he had
\npreviously piloted F-5 Tiger IIs and Hawk Mk 53s.<\/p>\n
The body of Dwi was flown to Yogyakarta yesterday morning and
\nthen on to his hometown of Klaten, Central Java, for burial.
\nMeanwhile a military ceremony led by Air Force commander Vice
\nMarshal Sutria Tubagus was held in Dwi's honor here.<\/p>\n
Another F-16 crashed in 1994, five years after the fleet of 12
\nLockheed Martin Corp-made jets worth US$600 million arrived here.<\/p>\n
The Air Force has five squadrons of combat fighters comprising
\n10 F-16s, 12 F-5s, 14 Hawk Mk 53s, seven Hawk Mk 109s and 20 A-
\n4s.<\/p>\n
Indonesia planned to buy another nine advanced fighters last
\nyear after the United States canceled selling 28 F-16s to
\nPakistan.<\/p>\n
But the fate of the deal estimated at $200 million has been
\nhanging in the balance due to mounting pressure by the U.S.
\nCongress against it, citing Indonesia's human rights record.<\/p>\n
A White House spokesman announced last October that the United
\nStates planned to go ahead with the jet sale, saying that
\nIndonesia was a good ally of the U.S. in an important region of
\nworld, the stability of which was of vital interest to the U.S.<\/p>\n
Congress also succeeded in blocking the sale of five Jordan-
\nowned F-5s in 1993 to Indonesia over human rights violations in
\nEast Timor. (amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/f-16-crash-blamed-on-weather-1447893297",
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