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Airplane crash kills 141 in Indonesia
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-05 12:36
The international airport in Medan, the largest city on Sumatra island, is
close to the center of town and is surrounded by densely populated residential
areas. Medan, the country's third largest city, has been a major staging point
for tsunami relief operations in Aceh province, which occupies the northern tip
of Sumatran island.
![Rescue workers and residents surround the wreckage of an Indonesian Boeing 737-200 operated by Mandala Airlines which crashed just after takeoff near a housing complex in the city of Medan, on Indonesia's Sumatra island September 5, 2005. [Reuters]](xin_090902051427596213383.jpg)
Rescue workers and residents surround the
wreckage of an Indonesian Boeing 737-200 operated by Mandala Airlines
which crashed just after takeoff near a housing complex in the city of
Medan, on Indonesia's Sumatra island September 5, 2005.
[Reuters] | Mandala Airlines is a Jakarta-based
domestic carrier founded in 1969 by a military-run foundation. Its 15-plane
fleet consists mainly of 1970s-vintage Boeing 737-200 jets. In recent years, the
financially troubled airline has been forced to cut services and fares to remain
competitive.
Tanjung said an investigation was being carried out into the cause of the
crash.
Map of Sumatra and Java locating Medan where
an Boeing 737 airliner crashed on
Monday.[Reuters] | The plane was nearly 25 years
old, he said, and received its last comprehensive service in June. It had flown
more than 50,000 hours and was due to be retired in 2016.
Indonesia's last crash involving a jetliner occurred in February 2005, when
26 people were killed when a plane operated by Lion Air, a low-cost carrier,
skidded off the runway on Java Island, killing 26 people.
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