Official cites engine failure as cause of plane crash in HK

JAKARTA (JP): A preliminary study indicates that engine failure caused the Pelita Air Services transport plane to lose control and plunge into the Hong Kong harbor as it was taking off from Kai Tak airport last Friday, a senior Ministry of Transportation official said yesterday.

Director General of Civil Aviation Zainuddin Sikado told reporters yesterday that the Pelita pilot lost control of the plane because of engine trouble.

"I can't speak about the pilot, as pilots have their qualifications to fly aircraft," he said when asked if human error was the likely prime cause of the accident, which killed six Pelita crew members and injured six others.

"I think the speed was not strong enough for the aircraft to take off," he said.

Sikado said the plane's flight data and voice recorders have been sent to Britain for expert analysis.

He said that all planes are subject to regular checks but accidents still happen.

"Last year, another Hercules crashed, also because of engine trouble," he said, stressing that this is a problem for the aircraft manufacturer to deal with.

"But, who knows, there may be one or two planes having technical imperfections out of a thousand products. Technical malfunctioning may affect fuel and hydraulic systems, or come from a leaking oil pump system, as happened with Gatari's Bell- 212 helicopter, which crashed in Central Sulawesi on Saturday."

In the case of the Gatari crash, three people were killed and one survived.

Sikado acknowledged that 80 percent of all air crashes worldwide have been caused by the human factor. Technical factors account for only five percent and 15 percent are attributed to weather factors.

Minister Haryanto has urged that all aircraft in operation have well maintained machines, while all plane crews must have a high level of discipline in operating aircraft. (icn)