Aviastar Flight 7503
PK-BRM, the aircraft involved in the incident, on the morning of the crash.
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| Accident summary | |
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| Date | 2 October 2015 |
| Summary | Crashed off course, under investigation |
| Site | Pajaja Mountains, Latimojong, Ulu Satu, Luwu Regency, Indonesia |
| Passengers | 7 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 10 (all) [1] |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter |
| Operator | Aviastar |
| Registration | PK-BRM |
| Flight origin | Andi Jemma Airport, Masamba, Indonesia |
| Destination | Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, Makassar, Indonesia |
Aviastar Flight 7503 (MV7503/VIT7503) was a scheduled 60-minute passenger charter flight, operated by Aviastar (Indonesia) en route from Andi Jemma Airport, Masamba, to Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, Makassar, Indonesia. On 2 October 2015 it was reported that the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, registered PK-BRM with 10 on board, crashed near Palopo 11 minutes after takeoff.[2] There was no distress call from the plane.[3]
The plane was found on Monday 5 October 2015 and it was confirmed that all 10 people are dead.[4] It is the third commercial airliner accident and fourth aviation incident involving in nine months in Indonesia, after Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501, 2015 Indonesian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules crash, and Trigana Air Service Flight 257.
Flight[edit]
The aircraft took off from Masamba Airport at 14:25 WITA (06:25 UTC) with 3 crews and 7 passengers on board.[5] It was expected to land in Makassar one hour later at 15:25, but eleven minutes after take-off, the plane lost contact with the control tower. At the time of the loss, the aircraft was on an elevation of 8.000 ft. According to local reports, the weather was cited as excellent, with visibility above 100 km and winds at 5 knots.[6] The route which was chosen in this flight was a "very safe" route with elevation ranging around 10-100 ft, meaning that there are no mountains or large hills in the route. The communication between the flight crews and the air traffic controller at the time was also reported as very good.[7] The fuel was also counted as enough. As for the condition, the aircraft itself was determined to be in a very good condition according to Aviastar. This was also backed up by evidence from KNKT (National Transportation Safety Committee).[8]
Search[edit]
Immediately after the crash, the National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) quickly set up a crisis centre in Makassar. They also sent 100 search and rescue personnel to the area. The first day of the search was by foot. The position of the plane had not yet been located at that time. As nightfall approached, the search was suspended, even though citizens in the regency of Palopo claimed that they saw a "very low" flying plane in the area. These reports were later confirmed to be hoaxes.
On the second day, search and rescue personnel from Masamba and Makassar searched the same area with one helicopter and three aircraft from Aviastar. The search area was widened, from Palopo and the surrounding areas to Luwu shoreline. In a press conference, BASARNAS reported that the position of the missing plane was around 14 nautical square miles. It had officially widened to 24 nautical square miles, which would take around 2.5 hours by land from the nearest city. Currently,there are three coordinates which BASARNAS suspected to be the crash site, which is at 14 nautical miles, 24 nautical miles and 34 nautical miles.[9][10] The position of the aircraft was located by the signal from the engineer's cellphone, which was set in Airplane Mode. The signal of the phone give some clues to BASARNAS about the location of the incident. The ELT was also detected, but the search operation was hampered due to poor weather condition in the area. At early dusk, some people reported that the plane was found in the area of Sidrap. The claim was later investigated.[11]
BASARNAS sent around 125 personnel in the second day of the search operations, along with the National Armed Forces assistance. Head of BASARNAS, Bambang Soelistyo, said in another press conference that his personnel along with the National Armed Forces and some other personnel from Luwu had scoured four main areas, which three is in Luwu regency, Northern Luwu regency and Palopo Regency.[12]
In the third day of the incident BASARNAS add another additional one plane in order to find the missing plane. They also added another additional personnel from 125 to 299 personnel. The Vice Governor of South Sulawesi, Agus Arifin Nu'mang would also be joining the search for the flight from the ground.[13] As the search widened, assistance from various government organization also arrived, including BPBD, Indonesian Red Cross and the IRC. Relatives of the passengers onboard were also joining the search, hoping for survivors. But the plane still hasn't been found yet.[14]
Eyewitness[edit]
Numerous people claimed that they saw the plane crash, but all of them were giving different locations.[15] Some people claimed that the plane crashed into Palopo Mountains, while others claimed that the plane crashed near Sidrap waterfall. A young student, claimed that the plane was flying very low, and had smoke on the wing, then impacted the sea at the Luwu shoreline.[16] Some villagers also stated that the plane flew into the Barru and Pare-Pare sea. BASARNAS stated that there are possibilities that the plane flew off course, using a different route and flew over the shoreline due to the mountains in the west. As the results the search area was to widen again until Makassar Strait.[17][18]
Recovery[edit]
In the fourth day, the search area has officially widen into the sea, with around ten divers have been prepared by BASARNAS. The plane will also search the Pare-Pare sea.[19] On the afternoon, at 15:55 WITA, some personnel of BASARNAS and the Indonesian police found the debris that was suspected from the missing aircraft which found on the Latimojong Mountain. BASARNAS later confirmed that the debris belongs to the missing aircraft. Photos taken by BASARNAS shown that the wreckage of the aircraft was burned even days after the disappearance. At the time of the discovery, there were three burned bodies in the area. No survivors were found from the burning wreckage. [20]
On 6 October, the black box of the flight were recovered as well as all the bodies of 10 onboard. BASARNAS evacuated the bodies to a military hospital in Makassar. They also had prepared 10 bodies bag in preparation for the retrieval of the victims. The evacuation process will be proceed by air and involving around 300 personnel. President Joko Widodo will observe the evacuation process. There were 22 DVI personnel which will help the identification of the victims.[21]
Passengers and crew[edit]
All on board the aircraft were Indonesians. Onboard there were seven adults, one child and two infants. Among the passengers are the head of the Seko Airport in Northern Luwu and five Andi Djemma Airport staff. One family was also onboard.[22][23] The pilot and the co-pilot as released by Aviastar, were:
- Captain Iri Afriadi, with 2,900 hours of flying experience.
- First Officer Yudhistira Febby with 435 hours of flying experience.[24]
See also[edit]
- Santa Barbara Airlines Flight 518, the crew didn't notice that the navigation system in the aircraft had malfunctioned, later become disorientated, resulting in the crash of the aircraft.
- Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 9760, crashed while on approach to Oksibil Airport.
- Mount Salak Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash, crashed while on a demonstration flight in Indonesia. The crew had turned off the terrain warning system and were unaware that they were operating in close proximity to mountains and impacted Mount Salak.
- Controlled Flight Into Terrain
References[edit]
- ^ "The Plane was founded near Palopo without survivors". Okezone News. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ "Missing Indonesia Plane Aviastar Airline". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ "Missing Aviastar Plane Update: Bad Weather Hampers Indonesia's Search On Sulawesi Island, Phone Signal Detected". International Business Times. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ "The Plane was found near Palopo without survivors". news.okezone.com. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ "Pesawat Aviastar yang Hilang Kontak Digunakan Untuk Carter". Detik.com. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ "BMKG: Cuaca Baik Saat Pesawat Aviastar Take Off". Tribun News.
- ^ "Pilot Aviastar Sempat Berkomunikasi 11 Menit Usai Take Off". Tribun News. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ "Pesawat Hilang Kontak, GM Aviastar: Layak Terbang, Kondisi Cuaca Bagus". Galamedianews. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ "Kemungkinan Aviastar Hilang Kontak 20 Nautical Mile dari Masamba". Metro TV News.com. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ "Tiga Titik Prakiraan Aviastar Hilang Kontak, Komunikasi Terakhir di 14 Nautical Mile". Galamedianews. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ "Pesawat Aviastar Dikabarkan Ditemukan di Sidrap" (in Bahasa Indonesia). Metro TV News.com. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ "Hari ini tak Ada Hasil, Besok Tim SAR Tambah Personel dan 1 Pesawat". Detik.com. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ "Wagub Sulsel Ikut Mencari Aviastar di Bastem". Tribun News. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ^ "Hari Ketiga Pencarian, Tanda Keberadaan Aviastar Masih Nihil". TEMPO. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ^ "Aviastar Hilang, Warga Sempat Lihat Pesawat Terbang Rendah". Liputan6. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ^ "Bocah Ini Lihat Pesawat Aviastar Nyemplung ke Laut". Okezone. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ^ http://nasional.news.viva.co.id/news/read/682415-aviastar-hilang--warga-lihat-ada-pesawat-mirip-ikan-di-barru
- ^ http://nasional.news.viva.co.id/news/read/682438-polisi-cari-pesawat-aviastar-hingga-ke-selat-makassar
- ^ "Pencarian Pesawat Aviastar Hari Ketiga, Tim SAR Susuri Teluk Bone! Ini Foto-foto Persiapannya". Pojok Sulsel. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ "The Plane was founded near Palopo without survivors". news.okezone.com. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ "Identifikasi Korban Aviastar, Tim DVI Kerahkan 22 Dokter Ahli". Sindonews. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ "Ini Daftar Nama Penumpang di Pesawat Aviastar yang Hilang Kontak". KOMPAS. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ "Korban Aviastar adalah Keluarga Karyawan Bandara Masamba dan Seko". Tribun News. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ "Pilot Pesawat Aviastar Hilang Kontak Kantongi Ribuan Jam Terbang". Liputan6. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
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