I

t was just a normal Thursday afternoon for residents living in the Rajawali housing complex in East Jakarta, inside the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force base compound.

But as the Fokker F-27 crashed and plowed into houses, the neighborhood became chaotic.

Dozens of residents immediately flocked to the location to see what had happened.

“I was taking a nap. But then I heard a loud ‘boom’ near my house at around 2 p.m. I went out and saw a huge fireball tearing through some houses,” Baskoro told The Jakarta Post from his home.

In all his 20 years of living in Halim, it was the first time he had witnessed such an incident.

“We are all used to such sounds from the Air Force training planes. We never thought an accident like this would happen,” he said.

Another witness, Salim, said that before the plane crashed, it was flying unsteadily.

“It was flying rather low, and then it started to lose its balance. It spun twice before it crashed onto the housing complex and exploded,” he said.

The Fokker F-27 crashed Thursday during a routine training, killing all seven crew members on board and three civilians on the ground.

The medium twin turboprop transport aircraft crashed into the housing complex at around 2:45 p.m., razing eight houses on Jl. Branjangan.

“There were no survivors after the crash; the entire crew died. [Copilot] Lt. Paulus died in hospital after being [rushed there] in critical condition,” said Col. Agung Sasongkojati, a spokesman for the Air Force.

The civilians killed in the accident, he continued, were 6-year-old Brian, the son of Maj. Yohanes, his 2-year-old niece Naflin, and a maid.

“The major’s wife, Martina, is currently in critical condition,” he said.

The air base commander, Commodore Asep Adang, said that as of 8 p.m., a total of 10 residents had suffered minor injuries, while two others were being treated in intensive care.

Agung said the cause of the crash was still unknown, adding that no explosion had been reported.

He also said that the contacts made between the plane and the tower constituted regular conversations about take-off and landing.

“We are still in the middle of investigating.”

According to Asep, the bodies of the deceased would be gathered at 7 a.m. on Friday at Halim Perdanakusuma air base, from where they would be flown to Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Madiun and Makassar at 8 a.m. for burial.

The air base shares facilities with the Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, which organizes presidential flights as well as chartered and business flights.

A number of flying schools also use Halim as their base.

Being a strategic installation, Air Force Military Police officers at first prevented journalists from entering the air base for security reasons. Residents, however, were permitted to enter the compound.

Journalists were finally allowed to enter, where they received briefings from several officers on to the accident.

R.R. Widianti, a resident who lives directly opposite one of the houses that was destroyed, said she was very lucky that her family was fine.

“I rushed home after my husband told me about the crash. Thank God my kids are all fine,” she said.

She added that all the residents helped their affected neighbors to save their families and some of their belongings.

Some belongings were removed from the houses and put in an empty lot.

Sri Hartati, 30, said it was the first incident of its kind that she had witnessed during her five years living in the complex.

“We all get used to such trainings. But it’s kind of scary now; an accident can happen anytime to any of us here,” she said.

“But what can I do? My husband is in the Air Force, so we have no other choice,” she said.