HK waits for RI's response

HK waits for RI's response

HONG KONG (AFP): Hong Kong is still waiting for Indonesia to come through with the certificate of airworthiness of a Lockheed Hercules transport aircraft that crashed in September, a senior official said yesterday.

Director of Civil Aviation Peter Lok told a Legislative Council panel looking into the crash that he had written to the authorities in Jakarta for the document, but had yet to get a reply.

"It would be inappropriate for us to surmise as to the reasons why the Indonesians have yet to respond to my written request," he said. "But we are pursuing the matter."

Six crew members died when the American built turboprop, registered in Indonesia, crashed into Hong Kong harbor only seconds after taking off for Jakarta, apparently when one of its four propellers failed.

Just hours earlier, it had been used to carry 33 Vietnamese to Hanoi under the territory's policy of sending home Vietnamese asylum seekers who have been denied refugee status and resettlement in the west.

A certificate of airworthiness states that an aircraft was found to be fit to fly on the date it was inspected. In countries such as the U.S., it is required to be kept inside the aircraft at all times.