Jakarta, Indonesia – An Indonesian jetliner carrying 140 people burst into flames as it landed on Java island on Wednesday, trapping a number of people inside the burning plane, the airline and witnesses said. Officials reported at least 20 dead and dozens injured.
The Garuda airlines jet shook violently as it prepared to land and then overshot the runway, hitting fences and slamming into a rice field shortly before 7 a.m., survivors said.
Some passengers escaped and rescuers tried to reach those trapped on the Boeing 737-400, said Capt. Ari Sapari, operations director of national carrier Garuda.
Twenty charred bodies were pulled from the wreckage after firefighters worked for two hours to put out the blaze, Bambang Sugito, general manager of Yogyakarta airport in central Java, told el-Shinta radio.
Several passengers told local media that most on board survived the crash. Metro TV reported that a nearby hospital was treating around 60 injured. The state-owned airline said that 140 passengers and crew were on board.
Among the passengers were Australian journalists and diplomatic staff who were in Indonesia in connection with a visit by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, said Australian Treasurer Peter Costello in Canberra. The foreign minister was not on the plane.
“There appears to have been a significant loss of life,” said Australian Prime Minister John Howard. “There were up to 10 Australians on board and not all of those have been accounted for.” There was no immediate word on what sparked the blaze. Survivors said it began at the front the plane before engulfing the aircraft.
“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,” local Islamic leader Dien Syamsudin told El-Shinta.
“I saw a foreigner. His clothes were on fire and I jumped from the emergency exit. Thank God I survived.” BBC World television carried footage of raging flames poking through several windows of the passenger compartment.
Another survivor 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,” continued passenger Muhammad Dimyati. “I believe many passengers remained trapped on board.”
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 takeoffs and landings are the most important factors in preventing accidents.
