Four bodies found among Merpati plane debris
Four bodies found among Merpati plane debris
JAKARTA (JP): Search and rescue workers found four
unidentified bodies and parts of a Merpati Nusantara Airlines
aircraft in the Molo Strait, East Nusa Tenggara yesterday.
Merpati said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post
last night that the wreckage of the 16 seater turboprop was found
by SAR workers off the west coast of Flores at 4:30 p.m.
yesterday.
The Twin Otter aircraft went missing on Tuesday on its way
from Bima, West Nusa Tenggara to Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara. It
left Bima at 8:55 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive at its
destination at 9:40 a.m. The last contact between the pilot and
the ground tower was recorded at 9:22 a.m.
The 10 passengers listed in the aircraft's manifest are
Muchtar, Hasni, Yongky, Mr. Halim, Mrs. Halim, Robby Gunawan,
Subagya Jasman, Rachmat, seven-year-old Wirawan and 10-month-old
Cencen.
The crew members were pilot Raymond Salvio Awaat Runtu, co-
pilot Lovi Ibrahim Adji, copilot Eko Gunawan and airborne
mechanic Johnny Tjuikaang Saduk.
The state-run television station TVRI reported that SAR
workers and residents also found the airplane's brake mechanism,
the captain's cap with his name on it, a tie, a blue scarf and a
red blouse.
The DHC-8 Twin Otter with flight number MZ 6715 was built by
Canada's De Havilland Aircraft Limited in 1973 and had been part
of Merpati's fleet since 1974.
Merpati headquarters said yesterday that the aircraft was
"serviceable" and had no problem until it went down Tuesday.
An intensive search mission reinforced by two planes had been
on since Tuesday morning, when the plane was first declared
missing. One plane, carrying Minister of Transportation Haryanto
Dhanutirto, concentrated on the mountainous forest areas in
Labuhan Bajo, Flores, where the ill-fated plane was last sighted.
Five plane accidents have occurred near the Ruteng airport
since 1989, largely because of bad weather, airport officials
said.
The deadly crash was the first for Merpati this year. Last
year, a Merpati airplane crashed in Central Sulawesi, killing all
12 people on board.
In late November, another Merpati plane broke into three
pieces upon landing in the Central Java capital of Semarang,
seriously injuring one passenger. Several weeks later, Merpati
experienced another accident with no casualties, although the
aircraft was damaged. (pan)