Indonesian jetliner fire is investigated
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia — Investigators picked through the charred debris of a Boeing 737-400 that burst into flames after careening off a runway, as forensic doctors struggled today to identify the 21 people killed, many burned beyond recognition.
A top investigator said the plane's front wheels snapped off as it landed, and that the fire spread from punctured fuel tanks in the right wing.
"We are trying to find out why the wheel broke," Marjdono Siswo Suwarno said.
About 117 dazed and bloodied survivors staggered from the jetliner after it broke through a fence and came to rest in a rice paddy on Wednesday. Most escaped without major injuries, although several suffered burns and broken bones.
Those killed were trapped in the wreckage of the Garuda Airlines plane after it caught fire, sending billowing clouds of black smoke and orange flames high into the air. The plane had been carrying 140 passengers and crew, officials said.
The accident at Yogyakarta international airport on Java island was the third plane crash in as many months in Indonesia, raising urgent questions about the safety of the country's booming airline sector.
At least four Australians were among the dead, Indonesian officials said. One other Australian was feared dead, but her body had not been formally identified yet. Two other people remained unaccounted for.
Today, Australian and Indonesian crash investigators examined the blackened fuselage and other parts of the plane scattered over a brilliant green rice paddy at the end of the runway, taking photos and notes as they worked.
Both of the plane's flight data recorders had been found and would be sent to Australia for analysis, investigators said.
"It is clear there are no indications of sabotage or intentional explosions in this crash as yet," said Joseph Tumenggung, the head of the investigation team.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to help the Indonesian government investigate the crash.
Alessandro Bertellotti, a journalist with Italian broadcaster RAI, said the plane was going at a "crazy speed" as it approached Yogyakarta airport after a 50-minute flight from the capital, Jakarta.
"It was going into a dive and I was certain we would crash on the ground," Bertellotti told the Italian news agency ANSA. "I was sitting behind the wing. I saw that the pilot was trying to stop it, but it was too fast. It literarily bounced on the strip."
Several survivors said pilots and flight attendants opened emergency exits and directed passengers to them. The evacuation was orderly for the most part, with some passengers able to take their hand-luggage with them.
