Indonesia Plane Crash Kills 98

[george]

Indonesia plane crash kills 57: doctor

Fifty-seven people were killed when an Indonesian military transport plane crashed in East Java, a military doctor told ElShinta radio.

"A military Hercules crashed and caught fire in Magetan, East Java this morning around 6:30am," Air Force officer Herli Dwiyanto told AFP.

-- AFP 2009-05-20

[george]

Update:

Plane crash death toll rises to 98

An Indonesian military transport plane carrying soldiers and their families crashed into homes and erupted in flames on Wednesday, killing at least 98 people, the air force spokesman said.

The burning wreckage of the Hercules was scattered in a rice paddy near Magetan, East Java, about 160 kilometres (100 miles) east of Yogyakarta.

"The death toll has risen to 98 people,'' air force spokesman Bambang Sulistio told AFP as soldiers and rescue workers continued to search the charred debris for human remains.

The plane was carrying more than 100 passengers and crew including soldiers and their families, among them children, officials said. It was flying from Jakarta to the eastern province of Papua via Magetan.

Sulistio said the dead included 14 children and two residents of Geplak village whose homes were destroyed in the crash. About a dozen people were injured in the crash.

-- AFP 2009-05-20

[Goshawk]

One villager, Agus Yulianto, said one of the wings had fallen off shortly before the Hercules plummeted. "Then the plane nosedived into the houses,"

-GuardianUK

Could've looked something like this incident

eek..

[hanno]

Could've looked something like this incident

Holy &$%^!!!!

Much as I would like to go to Indonesia, for the birding in particular, they have way too many plane crashes and ferry sinkings for my liking

[bdenner]

Update:

Plane crash death toll rises to 98

..............

The plane was carrying more than 100 passengers and crew including soldiers and their families, among them children, officials said. It was flying from Jakarta to the eastern province of Papua via Magetan.

..........

-- AFP 2009-05-20

100 in a C130. Shouldn't imagine many of em had seat belts, not that it would have helped RIP. Older Hercs were renound for corrosion in the wings.

[churchill]

Indonesia Air Force in Spotlight After Plane Crash

MAGETAN, Indonesia (AP) -- Indonesia vowed to ground all of its C-130 Hercules planes if investigators determine that mechanical problems caused a crash that killed 99 people, putting a spotlight on its beleaguered air force.

The accident -- which occurred in clear weather moments after pilots spoke with air traffic control -- was the third involving a military aircraft in just two months. It also followed complaints that the air force could hardly afford spare parts for its aging fleet.

Survivors said they heard at least two loud explosions and felt the C-130 wobbling from left to right as it plummeted to the ground Wednesday, losing a wing as it hit some trees and then slamming into a row of houses.

It skidded 700 yards (meters) before halting in a rice field.

There were 110 people on the plane, which was carrying troops and their families from the capital, Jakarta, to Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua, home to a decades-long insurgency.

continued at http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/05/21...wt=nytimesworld