Merpati Plane Crash - 27 Died

A Merpati airlines Flight MZ8968 plane plunged to the sea yesterday as it approached the Utarom Airport, Kaimana, West Papua. All of its 21 passengers and 6 crews were predicted died in the accident.

Kompas quoted the Director General of Air Transportation Herry Bhakti as saying that the made-in China MA-60 turboprop plane was scheduled to land at 1.55 pm. At that time the weather was bad, rain was falling heavily and cloudy,  the plane was almost ready to land when suddenly communications broke off before the crash.


The fact that the plane was manufactured in 2010, therefore very young, has made people questioned the quality of the plane. Especially that former Vice President Jusuf Kalla has once rejected Merpati's plan to buy fifteen MA-60 because it was not certified by the U.S Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Aviation observer Dudi Soedibyo said that the CN-235 passenger plane produced by Indonesia is much better than the Chinese MA-60. This can be seen from the fact that our CN-235 has been used by US Coast Guard, South Korean Air Force, French Air Force and Merpati airlines.

In a hearing with the House of Representatives in June 2009, the President Director of Merpati Bambang Bhakti revealed that the airlines has once grounded an MA-60 plane because they found a Crack in the Rudder of the plane.

Meanwhile the Director General of Air Transportation said that the plane has been certified in China and Indonesia, therefore there should not be any problem flying it here.

Considering that Merpati has purchased fifteen MA-60 planes, four flying - waiting for eleven more, I hope that the Indonesian government and aviation authority would investigate this accident thoroughly, . I also hope that the House of Representatives would hold hearing with Merpati and relevant parties on the real reason why has Merpati purchased the Chinese MA-60 plane, instead of our own CN-235 plane which is much better and safer. 

Flood in Wasior, West Papua

Heavy rainfall in West Papua on Monday has flooded the town of Wasior, Teluk Wondama district, causing the death of almost 100 people and many others missing.

Please find below a related article that I have quoted from Kompas.

Various TV stations have quoted officials of environmental organizations i.e. Walhi and Greenpeace, as saying that the most possible cause of the flood is massive deforestation that has been going on for so many years in the province.

Indonesia Flood Toll Rises to Almost 100

Kamis, 7 Oktober 2010 | 14:03 WIB

 

A picture shows the aftermath of deadly flooding caused by torrential downpours in Teluk Wondama, Indonesias West Papua on October 5, 2010. At least 56 people were killed and 24 remain missing after the flash floods.

 

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The death toll from flash floods in a remote region of eastern Indonesia has climbed to at least 97 with dozens of people still missing, an official said Thursday. Rescue workers were still searching for survivors from floods which hit West Papua province’s Teluk Wondama district on Monday following torrential downpours, a rescue official said.

“At least 97 people were killed and more than 800 people were lightly and badly injured,” Papua search and rescue official Mochamad Arifin told AFP. “We are still searching for dozens of missing people,” he said.

Those killed had reportedly drowned and been swept away by the powerful waters along with uprooted trees, rocks and debris. Experts warned such events will become more common in the archipelago due to a combination of climate change, land conversion and logging, which can contribute to landslides and flash floods after monsoonal downpours.

Indonesia’s climatology agency said most parts of Indonesia had experienced torrential rains, strong winds, high waves and flooding due to extreme weather this year.