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Plane crashes before thousands of spectators
A Super Decathlon airplane crashed and burst into flames while performing an aerobatic stunt during the Bandung Air Show on Friday, leaving senior pilot Alexander Supelli critically injured
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Super Decathlon airplane crashed and burst into flames while performing an aerobatic stunt during the Bandung Air Show on Friday, leaving senior pilot Alexander Supelli critically injured.
The air show is being held at the northern section of Bandung’s Husein Sastranegara Airport.
The accident took place at 10:12 a.m. before thousands of spectators who had packed the arena on the second day of the event to watch the aerobatics show.
Alexander, the older brother of feminist activist and astronomer Karlina Supelli, was rushed to Hasan Sadikin General Hospital for burns to 60 percent of his body.
He also suffered multiple trauma and a leg fracture.
The plane crashed when it was in an inverted position alongside another plane piloted by Esther Gayatri Saleh. Alexander’s plane appeared to have difficulties switching back to its upright position at 107 meters above the ground and finally fell from a height of 30 meters.
Dozens of Indonesian Air Force personnel, including spectators, rushed to the crash site.
A bystander, Holid Zubaedi, said he was shocked by the accident because the blue and white plane performed without incident at the start of the show at 8 a.m.
“The pilot was able to maneuver the plane to an inverted position, but seemed to face difficulties when
trying to turn upright and crashed,” he said.
Husein Sastranegara Airport commander Col. Asep Adang Supriyadi said the two pilots had conducted thorough preparations before the demo, adding that they had performed the stunt perfectly and awed thousands of spectators during the opening of the air show on Thursday, which was kicked off by Bandung Deputy Mayor Ayi Vivananda.
“Everything was done according to procedure, including the briefing before the event. Alexander had flown the plane once, but wished to do so again, so he took off at 10:08 a.m. before eventually crashing at 10:12 a.m.,” Asep said at Wisma Soumpil Basuki at the airport an hour after the accident.
He said he was not sure what caused the accident and was still working with the National Committee on Transportation Safety (KNKT) to investigate. Asep said the plane was owned by state-owned aircraft producer PT Dirgantara Indonesia and was being shown in the air show that runs until Sunday.
Alexander is the former head of the aircraft division at Bandung-based Dirgantara and played a role in designing the N-250 plane. He resigned from Dirgantara in 2000 after deciding to set up a company in partnership with a French firm.
