- Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 8968
-
Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 8968
A Merpati Nusantara Airlines Xian MA60, similar to the aircraft involved in the accidentAccident summary Date 7 May 2011 Type Under investigation Site Off the coast of West Papua, Indonesia on visual approach to Kaimana Airport Passengers 21 Crew 4 Fatalities 25 (all) Survivors 0 Aircraft type Xian MA60 Operator Merpati Nusantara Airlines Tail number PK-MZK Flight origin Sorong Airport, West Papua, Indonesia Destination Kaimana Airport, West Papua, Indonesia Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 8968 was a domestic passenger flight from Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia, to Kaimana, West Papua, Indonesia. On 7 May 2011, the Merpati Nusantara Airlines Xian MA60 aircraft operating the flight crashed off the coast of West Papua on approach to Kaimana Airport in heavy rain. There were 21 passengers and four crew on board the aircraft; all were killed.[1][2][3][4][5]
Contents
Aircraft
The aircraft involved, an Xian MA-60 registered PK-MZK, had entered service in October 2010, and had flown for a total of 615 hours at the time of the incident.[5]
Accident
The aircraft was on final approach, after holding for fifteen minutes, to the Kaimana Airport at about 1400 local time (0500 UTC) when it crashed into water about 500 metres (1,600 ft) before the runway.[5] The weather at the time of the incident was rain and fog, with visibility less than 2,000 metres (6,600 ft).[5] An official at the Ministry of Air Transportation said that "there was heavy rainfall, which shortened the [pilot's] range of vision. It was also very dark."[6] After impacting the water, the aircraft broke into at least two main pieces and sank in about 30 metres (98 ft) of water.[5] According to a local navy officer, the aircraft "exploded" on impact, killing all on board.[7]
Casualties
There were 25[8]people on board the aircraft, of which 21 were passengers, four were crew, and two were unspecified technicians.[5] Between fifteen[7] and eighteen[5] bodies were recovered in the immediate aftermath of the crash, with the remainder still trapped in the aircraft.[7] Of the dead, three were young children, including a baby.[6] A search involving ten Navy divers was initiated to recover additional bodies, though weather conditions and equipment difficulties made the effort unsuccessful.[9]
Aftermath
The aircraft's flight recorder was recovered on 9 May[10] after a search that was hampered by a strong underwater current that necessitated the fuselage to be anchored to the seabed.[11] After examination, it was discovered that the contents of the recorder were encrypted in Chinese; as a result, the recorder was sent to China to be decrypted.[12]
On 10 May, Merpati Nusantara's president, Sardjono Jhony Tjitrokusumo offered to resign if the crash was the fault of the airline, saying that "I am ready to tender my resignation if the error was from Merpati's side."[13]
On 13 May, the Indonesian government ordered Merpati Nusantara to perform safety inspections on its other twelve MA60 aircraft.[12] In announcing the order, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that "[t]here should be a prevention effort and inspection of the same type of Merpati aircraft [...] This [is] important to the public so they can get clear explanation."[12]
Cause
The cause of the crash was not immediately determined; a spokesperson from Indonesia's transport ministry said that "We also don't know what caused the accident, but the weather was pretty bad at the time."[14]
References
- ^ "Merpati Airlines passenger plane crashes in sea off Indonesia’s West Papua province". BNO News. 7 May 2011. http://wireupdate.com/wires/17245/merpati-airlines-passenger-plane-crashes-in-sea-off-indonesias-west-papua-province/. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Update: Indonesia Plane Crash". Jakarta Globe. 7 May 2011. http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/breaking-news-indonesia-plane-crash/439690. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "27 killed in plane crash in Indonesia". Xinhua. 7 May 2011. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/07/c_13863732.htm. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Plane carrying 27 crashes in eastern Indonesia". MSNBC. 7 May 2011. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42940928/ns/world_news-asiapacific/. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g Hradecky, Simon (7 May 2011). "Crash: Merpati MA60 at Kaimana on May 7th 2011, impacted waters before runway". Aviation Herald. http://avherald.com/h?article=43c2b059&opt=0. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ a b "Around 25 dead in Indonesia plane crash". AFP. 7 May 2011. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5yVSsaSQ7. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ a b c "Indonesia: 'No survivors' after plane crashes off Papua". BBC News. 7 May 2011. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5yVRExi9r. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Preliminary report". http://www.dephub.go.id/knkt/ntsc_aviation/baru/pre/Preliminary_Report_PK-MZK_Merpati.pdf/.
- ^ "Navy officer: No survivors in Indonesia plane crash". Gulf News. 7 May 2011. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5yVS0W6i0. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Searchers Recover Black Box of Crashed Indonesian Plane". NYC Aviation. 9 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5yuH1CrxW. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ "MA60 crash investigators hunt cockpit-voice recorder". Flight International. 9 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5yuGrvzoN. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ a b c "SBY Orders Safety Probe of Merpati Planes After Crash". The Jakarta Globe. 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5yuGtdRzy. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ "Merpati president offers to quit after crash". Flight International. 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5yuGxyd9n. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ "Indonesian plane crash kills at least 15". The Guardian. UK. 7 May 2011. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5yVSSEFG0. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
External links
- "turut%20dukacita.jpg" (Archive) – Merpati Nusantara Airlines
- National Transportation Safety Committee
- Preliminary Report
- (Indonesian) Laporan Awal Kecelakaan Pesawat Udara
← 2010 · Aviation accidents and incidents in 2011 - Jan 1 Kolavia Flight 348
- Jan 9 Iran Air Flight 277
- Jan 24 Domodedovo International Airport bombing
- Feb 10 Manx2 Flight 7100
- Feb 14 Central American Airways Flight 731
- Mar 5 Antonov An-148 in-flight break up
- Mar 21 Trans Air Congo Antonov An-12
- Apr 1 Southwest Airlines Flight 812
- Apr 4 United Nations Bombardier CRJ-100
- Apr 19 Tawang Town Mil Mi-17 crash
- May 7 Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 8968
- May 8 American Airlines Flight 1561
- May 19 Sol Líneas Aéreas Flight 5428
- Jun 20 RusAir Flight 9605
- Jul 4 Missinippi Airways Cessna 208
- Jul 6 Silk Way Airlines Ilyushin Il-76
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- Jul 13 Noar Linhas Aéreas Flight 4896
- Jul 26 RMAF Lockheed C-130
- Jul 28 Asiana Airlines Flight 991
- Jul 30 Caribbean Airlines Flight 523
- Aug 6 Chinook helicopter shoot-down
- Aug 8 IrAero Flight 103
- Aug 9 Avis Amur Antonov An-12
- Aug 20 First Air Flight 6560
- Sep 2 FACh CASA C-212
- Sep 6 Aerocon Flight 238
- Sep 7 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash
- Sep 14 Angolan Air Force EMB 120
- Sep 16 Reno Air Races crash
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- Sep 29 Nusantara Buana CASA C-212 crash
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Incidents resulting in at least 50 deaths shown in italics. Deadliest incident shown in bold smallcaps.Categories:- Aviation accidents and incidents in 2011
- Aviation accidents and incidents in Indonesia
- Accidents and incidents involving the Xian MA60
- 2011 in aviation
- 2011 in Indonesia
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