Third commercial aircraft mishap in 10 years in Indonesia

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- The air mishap which took place in Indonesia today is the third involving a commercial aircraft in the past 10 years.

The mishap involving the aircraft belonging to Lion Air, was the third after AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 with 155 passengers crashed in the waters of Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan on Dec 28, 2014, killing everyone onboard.

Prior to that, on April 13, 2013, a Lion Air commercial aircraft helmed by a new pilot skidded into the sea at the Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali. All the 108 passengers and crew were safe.

In the unfortunate incident early this morning, the Lion Air Boeing MAX 8 aircraft with 181 passengers and eight crew, was a new aircraft which began flight operations on Aug 15.

The flight JT610 aircraft was reported to have crashed at coordinate 05 46.15 S - 107 07.16 E, after departing the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 6.20 am.

The aircraft was scheduled to arrive at the Depati Amir Pangkal Pinang Airport at 7.10 am West Indonesian time (8.10 am Malaysian time).

Until this news was written, there had been no official announcement of the list and number killed but it was feared that all the passengers and crew were killed. The wreckage of the aircraft had also not been found.

Malaysian Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia, Zamshari Shaharan said it had yet to be ascertained if any Malaysian was involved.

Prior to this, among the several air mishaps in the republic were:

• Aug 12, 2018 – Small PAC750 XSTOL small aircraft owned by Dimonim Air, with six passengers, a pilot and assistant pilot crashed in the Gunung Bintang area in Papua Province, killing all on board.
• Dec 3, 2016 – A Cassa aircraft owned by the Indonesian police with 13 senior officers including three pilots crashed in the sea near the Lingga district, Riau Islands in Sumatera.
• Nov 28, 2016 – A Bell 412 helicopter belonging to the Indonesian National Armed Forces Army (TNI AD) which crashed in the Bukit Malinau jungle, North Kalimantan killing three officers.
• June 4, 2016 – A Bell 206 helicopter belonging to the company PT Amur which crashed in Nabire, Papua province in eastern Indonesia which killed four people on board.
• March 20, 2016 – A 412 EP helicopter belonging to TNI AD with 13 soldiers which crashed after it was believed to have been struck by lightning in Poso, Central Sulawesi. All the passengers and pilot died.
• Feb 10, 2016 – An EMB-314 Super Tucano aircraft belonging to the Indonesian National Armed Forces Air Force (TNI AU) crashed in Perkampungan Blimbing, Kota Malang, East Jawa killing three including two civilians.
• July 1, 2015 – A C-130 Hercules aircraft belonging to TNI AU which crashed on the public housing areas in Medan, North Sumatra, killing over 140 lives.
• Dec 28, 2014 –  AirAsia Indonesia aircraft QZ8501 with 155 passengers crashed in the waters of Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan after it went off the radar on a flight from Surabaya to Singapore. The Airbus A320-200 aircraft departed the Juanda International Airport at 5.30 am (Surabaya time) before losing communication with the air traffic control at 7.24 am (Surabaya time). The aircraft with 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, a Singaporean, Malaysian, an Englishman and a Frenchman was scheduled to arrive at 8.20 am. The search and rescue for the victims took almost two months.
•  Nov 8, 2013 – A MI-17 helicopter belonging to TNI AD which crashed and burned in the Malinau area, North Kalimantan near the Indonesia-Malaysia, killing 13 passengers.
• April 13, 2013 – A Lion Air aircraft piloted by a young pilot skidded into the sea when landing at the Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali. However, all 108 passengers and crew of the aircraft survived.

-- BERNAMA