Air crash toll rises to 150

MEDAN – Investigators yesterday hunted for clues in the wreckage of a jetliner which crashed in north Indonesia and killed 150 people, as questions were raised about safety standards of low-cost carriers.

The Mandala Airlines Boeing 737-200 plunged into a suburb of Medan on Monday seconds after taking off from the city’s airport. A total of 103 of the 117 people on board died and 47 people on the ground also perished.President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono flew into Medan to attend the burial of North Sumatra Province governor Rizal Nurdin, who was killed in the crash, Indonesia’s worst for eight years.He also spent 15 minutes at the crash site, looking grim-faced as he waved to hundreds of people packing the roofs of nearby buildings.Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Committee sifted through the charred carcass of the plane as volunteers and soldiers carefully placing bits of flesh and bone into plastic bags.Setio Raharjo, who heads the committee, told AFP the black boxes – the flight recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which contains the last communication between the pilot and control tower – had been recovered.He said the engines would be taken to Jakarta to determine if the crash was caused by engine failure, while the recorders would be sent to the United States, Taiwan or Australia for analysis.Investigators have yet to offer any information about the possible cause of the crash.Indonesia has a history of Islamic extremist terrorism, including the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali, but Mandala Airlines spokesman Det Elfisra said foul play was unlikely.- Nampa-AFPA total of 103 of the 117 people on board died and 47 people on the ground also perished.President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono flew into Medan to attend the burial of North Sumatra Province governor Rizal Nurdin, who was killed in the crash, Indonesia’s worst for eight years.He also spent 15 minutes at the crash site, looking grim-faced as he waved to hundreds of people packing the roofs of nearby buildings.Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Committee sifted through the charred carcass of the plane as volunteers and soldiers carefully placing bits of flesh and bone into plastic bags.Setio Raharjo, who heads the committee, told AFP the black boxes – the flight recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which contains the last communication between the pilot and control tower – had been recovered.He said the engines would be taken to Jakarta to determine if the crash was caused by engine failure, while the recorders would be sent to the United States, Taiwan or Australia for analysis.Investigators have yet to offer any information about the possible cause of the crash.Indonesia has a history of Islamic extremist terrorism, including the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali, but Mandala Airlines spokesman Det Elfisra said foul play was unlikely.- Nampa-AFP