Turbulence likely the cause of Casa plane crash: minister
Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said turbulence was the suspected cause of the Casa 212 crash in Langkat, North Sumatra, on Thursday, which killed all 18 passengers.
The plane crashed into a hilly area in Gunung Leuser National Park en route to Kutacane in Aceh after departing from Polonia Airport in Medan on Thursday morning.
A search and rescue (SAR) team finally managed to reach the crash site on Saturday morning, although evacuation efforts have reportedly been hampered by bad weather.
“The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency had warned of poor weather conditions around Gunung Leuser during the past week, which was confirmed by [the SAR team] reports of strong winds of between 20 and 30 knots per hour around the wreckage site.
“Such strong winds can cause turbulence and had probably caused the Casa 212-200 aircraft to lose control and fall,” Freddy told a press conference in Medan on Saturday.
He added, however, that the government was still awaiting investigation results from the National Committee for Transportation Safety (KNKT) to determine the actual cause of the crash.
“The KNKT is currently searching for the plane’s black box, which can provide authentic evidence regarding the cause of the crash,” Freddy said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.
Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said turbulence was the suspected cause of the Casa 212 crash in Langkat, North Sumatra, on Thursday, which killed all 18 passengers.
The plane crashed into a hilly area in Gunung Leuser National Park en route to Kutacane in Aceh after departing from Polonia Airport in Medan on Thursday morning.
A search and rescue (SAR) team finally managed to reach the crash site on Saturday morning, although evacuation efforts have reportedly been hampered by bad weather.
“The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency had warned of poor weather conditions around Gunung Leuser during the past week, which was confirmed by [the SAR team] reports of strong winds of between 20 and 30 knots per hour around the wreckage site.
“Such strong winds can cause turbulence and had probably caused the Casa 212-200 aircraft to lose control and fall,” Freddy told a press conference in Medan on Saturday.
He added, however, that the government was still awaiting investigation results from the National Committee for Transportation Safety (KNKT) to determine the actual cause of the crash.
“The KNKT is currently searching for the plane’s black box, which can provide authentic evidence regarding the cause of the crash,” Freddy said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.
