Merpati told to ground ATP planes

JAKARTA (JP): The government has ordered Merpati Nusantara airlines to ground its remaining fleet of British-made Advanced Turbo Prop (ATP) aircraft after one of the planes crashed Saturday in South Sumatra, killing 15 people and injuring 31.

Seven people walked away from the crash unscathed, antara said yesterday.

Director General of Air Transportation Zainuddin Sikado announced the ban Saturday.

The cause of the crash is unknown and a lengthy investigation is predicted.

"I have heard the recording of the last conversation (between pilot Bartholomeus Suwardi and the airport tower) and there was no trouble. Four minutes afterwards, the plane fell and was ablaze 10 minutes later," Sikado was quoted by Kompas as saying.

"For the time being, the government has decided that all ATP aircraft will be grounded until there is further information on them (their airworthiness)," Sikado said.

Produced by British Aerospace, the ATP aircraft have been improved and modified here. The aircraft replaced the turboprop Hawker Siddeley which the company acquired in the 1960s.

Before the crash, Merpati had five ATP planes, which it received brand new in mid-1992.

Merpati, a subsidiary of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, used the ATP planes as bridging aircraft before the delivery of N250 airplanes which are being manufactured by state- owned PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara.

The 68-seat planes serve shuttle routes between Jakarta and Semarang in Central Java, Surabaya in East Java and Palembang, Pangkal Pinang and Bengkulu in Sumatra.

The Directorate of Certification on Air Transport Safety and Merpati continued investigating the cause of the crash yesterday.

Merpati's spokesman, Tondo Widodo, told The Jakarta Post that the black box data recorder from the plane would be sent to Australia for analysis, and results were due in about three months.

The plane with flight number MZ-106 crashed on Belitung Island, off South Sumatra.

Tondo confirmed that 53 people, including a crew of five, were on board. Two children and two babies were among the passengers.

Three of the crew had died and two were injured. Twelve passengers had died, he said.

The bodies of eleven victims were flown home to their tearful relatives in Jakarta yesterday. The other four bodies were sent to Tanjung Pandan in Belitung.

At the Soekarno-Hatta airport, hundreds of relatives of the victims waited for four hours before they could claim the bodies for burial.

Those who died were M. Zein, Warsono, Ipah, Nurasmah, Sawil, Fatimah, Tjoajong, Wongyan, Hendra Tabah, Hadi Ayung, Ramli, Sudaryati, pilot Bartholomeus Suwardi, copilot Imantuhu A.F. Soesmono and stewardess Kramatiningsih.

Survivors

The injured passengers have been transferred from Belitung Hospital to Pelni Hospital in Jakarta.

Among those admitted at Pelni yesterday were stewardess Genduk Sri Rudati, 23, on board mechanic Agus Supriyadi, 28, and 10 passengers.

Genduk's father, Suwono, and Agus' mother kept vigil beside their children at the hospital.

Chotib, a passenger, said he fell with part of the aircraft and landed among some palm trees. The aircraft split in three in mid-air.

"Just before landing, the plane's engine suddenly died. We couldn't do much. Then, I don't remember what happened," Chotib was quoted by Antara as saying.

Chotib, who works for the Ministry of Cooperatives, was scheduled for surgery today for a broken hip, left leg and right thigh. His wife of 14 years, Nurjanah, and four children also kept a bedside vigil yesterday.

Suhaimi, another passenger, said the plane glided without power just before it crashed.

Harry, a friend of Kramatiningsih, said that the 20-year-old stewardess' body had been sent to her hometown of Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

He said her father and other relatives had collected her personal effects at her boarding house in Jakarta.

On March 1, she was promoted to a full-time stewardess at Merpati. Her first flight since the promotion was her last.

Harry described her as shy, private but friendly.

Kramatiningsih had lived at the boarding house for only four months. Before that she had lived in Kemayoran while training to be a stewardess, he said.

He said she was close to her family and was the fifth of six children. One of her brothers had visited her the week before she died. (01)