Sempati crashes in Bandung killing at least 26 people
BANDUNG (JP): Twenty-six people were killed and 26 others injured when a Trigana Air Service airplane, leased by Sempati Air, crashed five minutes after taking off from Husein Sastranegara airport yesterday morning.
The Fokker-27 aircraft, flight number SG 394, was bound for Jakarta when it crashed after attempting to make an emergency landing at Sulaeman airbase, about five kilometers south of the airport.
It was carrying 45 passengers, including two children, and five crew members when it crashed into a muddy field near Mekar Rahayu housing complex just 200 meters from the airbase's runway at about 11.45 a.m. Western Indonesian Time.
It clipped telephone poles and the roofs of three houses before it crashed. A resident, Yudi, told Antara he saw three explosions as the aircraft hit the earth.
"It made a low, tilting pass before crashing," Yudi said. He joined hundreds of people who helped rescue workers evacuate the victims.
Two local residents and a Singaporean passenger identified as Johnny Koh Eng were among the wounded. Eng suffered serious burns and is in intensive care unit in Imanuel Hospital.
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto was quoted by Antara as saying that Sempati Air had promised to help bring Koh Eng back for treatment in Singapore. "We have 'medivac' (aircraft for medical evacuation)," he said.
All the crew were killed. They were pilot F.X. Bambang, co- pilot Achmad Rivai, mechanical engineer Bargowo and stewardesses Sri Mujiati and Iin Deti.
Antara reported that rescue workers identified 15 of the dead passengers as Sri Wahyuni, Heri, Edwin Y, Bio Yuliadi, Rina Agustina, Tomi Hotma Damanik, Yashtina Andalas, Novalina, Fardi Yanuar, Mohammad Iqbal, Sylvi Yanti and her two-year old son Luthfi Akbar Fahriza, Heti Hemi Lahama, Tami Yulianti and Muchlis Moenir. The rest have yet to be identified.
Muchlis' wife, Ranidan, survived with serious injuries and is in Immanuel Hospital. The two were accompanying their daughter, Rully, who was on her way to get married in Padang, West Sumatra.
The injured were admitted to Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Rajawali Hospital and Asadyra Hospital.
A survivor, Sudrajat, said he saw fire and smoke coming out of the aircraft's left wing as it was going down. He said he heard several explosions.
"The pilot asked us to stay calm and said he would fly us back to the airport," the employee of state-owned telecommunication company PT Telkom was quoted by Antara as saying.
Husein Sastranegara airbase commander Col. Eko Edi Santoso said further investigation would confirm whether the aircraft had been on fire before it crashed.
"I've just come from Jakarta and do not know a lot about what caused the accident," he said.
Haryanto Dhanutirto said while inspecting the crash site that the pilot of the Dutch-made aircraft appeared to have been attempting an emergency landing at Sulaeman airbase because of engine failure.
Haryanto said that the pilot had contacted Air Traffic Control at Husein Sastranegara airport and asked for a return-to-base procedure.
"Unfortunately, the aircraft had lost power and the pilot decided to land at the airbase," Haryanto said.
A team comprising the ministry's sub-directorate of flight feasibility and Sempati experts are investigating the accident.
It was the fourth plane crash this year. The first was when a Merpati Nusantara Advanced Turbo Prop (ATP) aircraft crashed on Belitung island off Sumatra on April 19, killing 15 people and injuring 31.
Next, a CN-235 military version aircraft crashed during a flight test of a Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System at Gorda airbase in Serang, West Java on May 22. All six people on board were killed.
Another Merpati Nusantara, a Cassa 212, crashed last week near Pattimura airport in Ambon, Maluku killing all three crew members.
Sempati operates five 51-seat Fokker-27s for short-distance flights. It was the second Sempati Fokker-27 to crash in the last six years.
The first went down in the East Java town of Gresik in 1991 during a training flight from Surabaya to Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. The two crew members miraculously escaped death but were seriously injured. The crash cost the private airline Rp 8 billion (US$3.3 million).
Haryanto said he saw no reason to stop using Fokker-27s even though the maker closed its factory following bankruptcy last year.
He said some 25 Fokker-27 aircraft were in operation in military and civil aviation in Indonesia and spare parts were available.
"As far as I know the aircraft that crashed was carefully maintained," he said.
He called on all airline companies to improve maintenance and comply with flight procedures to prevent another crash. (amd/leo/bay)