Indonesia: 49 dead in jet fire

At least 49 people were reported to have been killed and more than 90 injured when an Indonesian passenger plane carrying more than 140 people burst into flames as it landed on Java island early today.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered a thorough investigation into the crash, appointing the security minister to probe possible “non-technical” causes, said spokesman Andi Mallarangengeng, in an apparent reference to sabotage.

“The president wants to make sure the investigation is complete,” he said. “This would including technical and non-technical problems.”

The Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-400, whose passengers included around 10 Australian journalists and diplomatic staff, overshot the runway of Yogyakarta airport and caught fire.

The jet started shaking violently before landing and then overshot the runway, hitting fences and slamming into a rice field before 7am local time (midnight Irish time). Some survivors said the fire began at the front of the plane before engulfing the aircraft.

The airline said that 140 passengers and crew were on board.

Australian prime minister John Howard said Indonesian officials had confirmed 49 deaths, though it was not clear where that information came from. Garuda official Laras Widhyo said earlier that at least 22 were killed.

“It is a terrible tragedy,” Howard told a television news conference. “Many lives have been lost and our love and sympathy and condolences go to those who are suffering distress and grief.”

Asked if Australians had died, Howard said: “We should be prepared for bad news in relation to at least some of the Australians on board the aircraft.”

Howard said he had no information suggesting that the fire was caused by foul play.

“I have not received any advice suggesting it was anything other than a tragic accident,” he said. “I’ve not received any advice suggesting that there was sabotage or a terrorist attack.”

The Australians were heading to Yogyakarta for a visit there by foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer, who was in Indonesia for an anti-terror conference. He was not on board the jet.

Around two hours after the accident firefighters extinguished the blaze, which had gutted the plane, witnesses said.

At the crash site, survivor and local Islamic leader Dien Syamsudin said: “Before the plane landed it was shaking. Suddenly there was smoke inside the fuselage, it hit the runway and then it landed in a rice field.

“I saw a foreigner. His clothes were on fire and I jumped from the emergency exit. Thank God I survived.”

Another passenger told local TV station RCTI TV that “before landing I felt the plane shake strongly”.

“We overshot the runway, then I heard the sound of an explosion and ran through an emergency exit,” said Muhammad Dimyati. “I believe many passengers remained trapped on board.”

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on its website that Cynthia Banham, the paper’s Canberra-based diplomatic and defence reporter, was among the injured survivors. The paper’s Indonesia correspondent Mark Forbes told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio she was in intensive care with serious burns and other injuries.

The identity of other Australians reportedly involved was not confirmed.

Indonesia has been hit by a string of transportation disasters in recent months.

In late December, a passenger ferry sank in a storm in the Java Sea, killing more than 400 people. Days later, a passenger plane operated by the budget airline Adam Air crashed into the ocean, killing all 102 people on board. A ship that sank near the capital’s port left at least 50 dead.

The government responded by saying it would ban local commercial airlines from operating planes more than 10 years old, though most experts say maintenance and the number of take-offs and landings are the most important factors in preventing accidents.