More Merpati crash victims found
More Merpati crash victims found
JAKARTA (JP): Two more bodies of victims of a Merpati
Nusantara Airlines plane crash were found in the Molo Strait,
East Nusa Tanggara, yesterday.
This brought the number of deaths since the Twin Otter went
down on Tuesday to seven as of yesterday evening. A total of five
bodies were found on Wednesday.
Search and rescue workers said that the two badly mutilated
bodies were yet to be identified. They believed that one was that
of 10-month old Cencen.
Parts of the 16-seat turboprop plane have also been found
scattered along the coast of the western tip of the Flores
island. The body of the aircraft and the rest of the 14 people
aboard have yet to be located.
The aircraft that went missing half an hour after it took off
from Bima, West Nusa Tanggara, for Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, on
Tuesday morning is believed to have crashed into the strait.
The airlines's president, Ridwan Fatarudin, said here
yesterday that either bad weather or an explosion had caused the
lethal accident, Merpati's first this year.
According to Ridwan, an explosion could happen due to
mechanical or engine failure.
He said the wreckage of the plane built in 1973 may have
plunged into the sea.
"The pilot could have landed on the beach, or in nearby Labuan
Bajo, Flores, where the aircraft was last sighted, if there was
anything wrong with the airplane. Or at least the pilot could
have informed the ground about what was wrong," he said.
He also said that the airplane was overhauled in late December
and declared in service again on Dec. 24.
Ridwan said that when found, the black box will be sent to
Canada, because the aircraft was built by Canada's De Havilland
Aircraft Limited.
"The Twin Otter has not been assembled anymore since 1976,
when the manufacturer was taken over by Boeing, which is not
interested in such a type. However there are lots of Twin Otters
still in operation, although parts are scarce," he said.
Merpati originally operated 10 Twin Otters serving small
cities mostly in the eastern part of the country, where runways
are just 600 meters long. (icn)