New Casas to replace Merpati's Twin Otters

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said yesterday that the government would replace aging aircraft operated by the state-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines with new Casa-212s in order to minimize accidents.

"I will submit a proposal on the aircraft replacement to the National Development Planning Board, as aging planes will remain risky (even) after overhauling," Haryanto told reporters after meeting with Vice President Try Sutrisno.

He said that Try supported the plan, saying that safety in air transportation, particularly in the country's eastern region, had to be improved and guaranteed in step with the government's various measures to develop the region.

Aging aircraft are mostly used to serve towns in eastern provinces.

A Merpati Twin Otter aircraft crashed on Monday after taking off from the airstrip of Bintuni in Irian Jaya, killing the pilot and causing severe injuries to two other crew members and two of the 14 passengers. The plane was leaving for Manokwari when the accident occurred.

"It was one of the aging aircraft. There's not yet anything to say about the cause of the crash," Haryanto said.

He said that there scheduled flights of the aging aircraft, which include Twin Otters as well Fokker F-27s, were frequently canceled.

"We have to replace the aging aircraft and we have to take notice of Indonesia's eastern region," he said.

He said that the F-27 aircraft, about 30 years old, were no longer produced by the manufacturer.

The first prototype of the Canadian-built Twin Otter was flown in 1965. The Twin Otter is a short take-off and landing utility transport airplane, powered by a turboprop engine. The Casa-212, manufactured by Spain, was first flown in 1971, while the first prototype of the Dutch-made F-27 was flown in 1955.

"Aircraft are different. So, even though certain planes are maintained very well, it is difficult to rely on them once they are no longer new products," Haryanto said.

Merpati, established in 1962, operates 87 passenger aircraft comprised of three Boeing 737-200s, six F-100s, 25 F-28s, 13 Fokker-27s, 14 CN-235s, five Advanced Turbo Propellers (ATPs), 11 Casa-212s and 10 Twin Otters.

The company, a subsidiary of the national carrier Garuda Indonesia, is known as the pioneer in air transportation to remote destinations in the country's eastern region.(icn)