The safety and airworthiness of the Chinese-made Xian MA60 twin turboprop aircraft is again being questioned after it was involved in two separate accidents in Indonesia and Myanmar on Monday.

An MA60 operated by Merpati Nusantara Airlines (MNA) hard-landed in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, while another aircraft operated by Myanma Airlines swerved off the runway in Kawthaung, Myanmar.

MNA corporate secretary Herry Saptanto said the aircraft, registration PK-MZO, had a hard landing at Kupang's El Tari Airport at about 9:40 a.m. local time (8:40 a.m. Jakarta time).

Flight MZ 6517 from Bajawa, on Flores Island, was carrying 45 adult passengers, an infant and four crew members identified as Capt. Aditya Prio Joewono, co-pilot Au Yong Vun Pin and flight attendants Lanny Wulandari and Anesa Purwanti.

Herry said that six of the people who had been on board were resting at the Ima Hotel in Kupang while 31 others had returned home. 'One is being treated at the Kupang Air Force Hospital. Two have received treatment at the Bhayangkara Police Hospital and six were referred to the Dr WZ Johannes General Hospital. Merpati will cover all hospital and hotel expenses,' he said.

The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) and the Transportation Ministry have independently dispatched teams to Kupang to investigate the accident.

'All 46 people on board and the four crew members survived, only one is reported to have been hospitalized. I have sent an investigative team to Kupang just as the KNKT has done,' Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan said at the State Palace on Monday. The incident closed the airport for several hours, the minister added.

No official cause has yet been released and Mangindaan declined to speculate on the cause of the accident. 'That would be the investigators' domain. It could be a mechanical failure, human error or due to some instruments that were still under maintenance. Anything could have happened. But for me, the safety of the passengers is of the utmost importance,' he said.

Monday's accident is another blow to cash-strapped Merpati.

The procurement of the Chinese planes was controversial, putting the debt-ridden airline under public scrutiny. The Attorney General's Office launched an investigation into alleged corruption surrounding the MA60 procurement after it had found preliminary indications that the purchase might have violated legal procedures.

In May 2011, an MA60 crashed into the ocean off the coast of Kaimana in West Papua, killing all 25 people on board, a mere 500 meters from the runway. The Kaimana accident was the first fatal accident reported involving an MA60.

Some analysts, including former vice president Jusuf Kalla, have said the MA60 is not airworthy as it has not yet been certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Aviation observers Ruth Hanna Simatupang and Dudi Sudibyo, however, told The Jakarta Post separately that the absence of an FAA certification did not mean that the aircraft was of poor quality.

'It is, however, an enormous assurance if an aircraft is FAA-certified,' Dudi said over the phone.

Meanwhile, Ruth said the aircraft would have gone through rigorous testing before being sold abroad.

'Statistically, there has only been a small number of accidents caused by design or engineering faults, most are caused by human and management factors,' she said.

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