Dozens dead in Indonesia air crash

20/05/2009| IslamWeb

At least 78 people have died after an Indonesian military transport plane crashed into a village in East Java, air force officials have said.

The crash, during what the military says was a routine training mission, occurred on Wednesday morning near the town of Madiun in the Gaplak district of East Java.

The C-130 Hercules aircraft, carrying more than 100 passengers and crew, crashed into several houses on the ground before skidding into a rice paddy field.

Footage shown on Indonesian television showed burning wreckage strewn over a rice field with only the plane's tail remaining intact.

Officials have said they expect the death toll to rise once they are able to sift through the wreckage.

Indonesian media reports said about 15 injured people had been sent to local hospitals.

The Hercules aircraft was flying from Halim airbase near Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, to a base near Madiun when it came down.

Explosions

An eyewitness named Tofa told Indonesia's Metro TV news channel that he had heard two explosions as the plane crashed in flames.

He said local residents immediately ran to help pull passengers from the burning wreckage.

Other witnesses reported seeing the plane split apart in mid-air following a loud explosion.

Indonesia's air force has long complained of being underfunded and handicapped by a recently lifted US ban on weapons sales.

The air force has suffered a series of accidents, including one last month involving a Fokker 27 plane that crashed into an airport hangar, killing all 24 on board.

Last week a Hercules aircraft lost a wheel after it overshot the runway as it came in to land in the eastern Indonesian province of Papua.

PHOTO CAPTION

Rescue workers gather at the site of the wreckage of an Indonesian Air Force C-130 cargo plane after it crashed in Magetan in East Java province May 20, 2009.

Al-Jazeera