Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 8968

Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 8968

A Merpati Nusantara Airlines Xian MA60, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident 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]}

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

	Indonesia portal
	Aviation portal
	Disasters portal

1. ^ "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. 
2. ^ "Update: Indonesia Plane Crash". Jakarta Globe. 7 May 2011. http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/breaking-news-indonesia-plane-crash/439690. Retrieved 7 May 2011. 
3. ^ "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. 
4. ^ "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. 
5. ^ ^{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. 
6. ^ ^{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. 
7. ^ ^{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. 
8. ^ "Preliminary report". http://www.dephub.go.id/knkt/ntsc_aviation/baru/pre/Preliminary_Report_PK-MZK_Merpati.pdf/. 
9. ^ "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. 
10. ^ "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. 
11. ^ "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. 
12. ^ ^{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. 
13. ^ "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. 
14. ^ "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

Coordinates: 3°37′52″S 133°41′51″E / 3.63111°S 133.6975°E / -3.63111; 133.6975