Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 106

Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 106

An ATP similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	19 April 1997
Summary	Loss of control
Site	Buluh Tumbang Airport, Indonesia 2°44′44″S107°45′18″E / 2.7456°S 107.7550°E / -2.7456; 107.7550
Aircraft
Aircraft type	British Aerospace ATP
Aircraft name	Sangeang
Operator	Merpati Nusantara Airlines
IATA flight No.	MZ106
ICAO flight No.	MNA106
Call sign	MERPATI 106
Registration	PK-MTX
Flight origin	Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Jakarta
Destination	Buluh Tumbang Airport, Tanjung Pandan
Occupants	53
Passengers	48
Crew	5
Fatalities	15
Survivors	38

On 19 April 1997, Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 106, a British Aerospace ATP operating a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight from Soekarno Hatta International Airport to Buluh Tumbang Airport, ^[a] Indonesia, crashed into a coconut plantation whilst on approach to the airport, killing 15 of the 53 passengers and crew on board the aircraft.

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved, manufactured in 1992, was a British Aerospace ATP registered as PK-MTX with serial number 2048. It had its first flight in 1992 and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW126 engines. ^{[1] [2]} The aircraft was owned by Merpati Nusantara Airlines, a state-run airline. ^[3]

Passengers and crew

There were 53 occupants on board the aircraft, comprised of 48 passengers – including 44 adults, two children, and two babies – and five crew members. ^[4]

The five crew members included 28-year-old Captain Bartholomeus Suwardi, 21-year-old first officer Imamtuhu Ahmad Faisal Soesmono, a mechanic, ^{[4] [5]} a 21-year-old flight attendant, ^{[b] [4]} and another flight attendant. ^[5]

Accident

The flight took off from Soekarno Hatta International Airport at 06:40 WIB (UTC+07:00) en route to Buluh Tumbang Airport with an estimated arrival time of 07:50. ^[2] At 07:35, at an altitude of 2,000 feet (610 m), the captain asked air traffic control for permission to land, to which they instructed the flight to land on runway 36. At 07:39, the aircraft crashed into a coconut plantation in Bulutumbang village, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) short of the runway. ^{[4] [7]} According to residents, the plane crashed nose-first into terrain. ^[4] The plane broke into two sections with fire igniting in the front part of the aircraft. ^[2]

Notes

1. Now known as H.A.S. Hanandjoeddin International Airport.
2. Berita Yudha names the flight attendant as Kramatiningsing ^[6] while Kompas names the flight attendant as Kramataningsih. ^[4]

References

1. "Loss of control Accident British Aerospace ATP PK-MTX, Saturday 19 April 1997". Aviation Safety Network . Flight Safety Foundation. Archived from the original on 25 May 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
2. Darmawan, Aditya Priyatna; Firdaus, Farid (19 April 2023). "Hari Ini dalam Sejarah: Pesawat Merpati Nusantara Jatuh dan Terbakar, Bocah 5 Tahun Selamat" [This Day in History: Merpati Nusantara plane crashed and burned, 5-year-old boy survived]. Kompas (in Indonesian). Retrieved 12 July 2025.
3. "15 die in plane crash in Indonesia". Post-Bulletin . Vol. 72, no. 95. 21 April 1997. p. 5. Retrieved 13 July 2025– via Newspapers.com.
4. Arbi, Ivani Atina (18 April 2021). "Saat Anak 5 Tahun Keluar dari Pesawat Jatuh Tanpa Menderita Luka dalam Kecelakaan 24 Tahun Lalu" [When a 5-Year-Old Got Out of a Crashed Plane Unharmed in a Crash 24 Years Ago]. Kompas (in Indonesian). Retrieved 12 July 2025.
5. "18 killed in Merpati plane crash". The Straits Times . No. 3167. Jakarta, Indonesia. 20 April 1997. p. 3. Retrieved 13 July 2025– via NewspaperSG.
6. "Pesawat Latih FASI Jatuh di Bandung" [FASI Training Plane Crashes in Bandung]. Berita Yudha (in Indonesian). No. 1374. Bandung, Indonesia. 23 June 1997. pp. 1, 11. LCCN   sn86056956. OCLC   9680753 . Retrieved 12 July 2025– via the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs.
7. "Merpati Nusantara ATP crash kills 15 people". FlightGlobal . Flight International. 1 May 1997. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2025.