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MPR chairman urges govt to scrap old military aircraft
Chairman of the Peopleâs Consultative Assembly (MPR) Zulkifli Hasan expressed his condolences to the families of all passengers and residents killed in the Hercules airplane crash in Medan, saying the government should scrap all old military aircraft and replace them with new ones to avoid such accidents in the future
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hairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Zulkifli Hasan expressed his condolences to the families of all passengers and residents killed in the Hercules airplane crash in Medan, saying the government should scrap all old military aircraft and replace them with new ones to avoid such accidents in the future.
He said that the government should modernize all aging military arsenals, including C-130 aircraft, because the country's very large territory was in need of sophisticated transportation aircraft and defense systems.
The House of Representatives' Commission I on information, defense and foreign affairs also called on the government to modernize defense systems, including all old military aircraft.
President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has also expressed his deep condolence to the victims' families and instructed the immediate removal of all victims' remains and of ammunition from the ill-fated aircraft's fuselage. He also vowed to renew aging military aircraft.
The tragedy occurred when the Hercules C-130 aircraft carrying 113 passengers including crew, as well as ammunition, crashed into a housing area in Medan only two minutes after taking off from the Suwondo air base at 12:06 p.m. on Wednesday.
It is the fourth Hercules tragedy for the Air Force in the past 24 years. The first happened on Oct. 5, 1991 when a Hercules carrying 135 soldiers crashed in the Condet area in East Jakarta, minutes after taking off from Halim Perdanakusumah air base. All passengers, including crew, as well as three local residents were killed in the accident.
A similar aircraft developed problems when landing at the Wamena airport on May 11, 2009. One fatality was reported in the accident.
On May 20, 2009, an Alpha 1325 Hercules aircraft crashed in farming land in Magetan, East Java, killing two people. (rms)(++++)
