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Issue of the day: Ill-fated Hercules C-130 aircraft too old: VP

July 1, OnlineThe government has admitted that a Hercules C-130 aircraft owned by the Indonesian Air Force that crashed in Medan, North Sumatra, on Tuesday, was too old at over 50 years of age

The Jakarta Post
Sat, July 4, 2015

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Issue of the day:  Ill-fated Hercules C-130 aircraft too old: VP

J

strong>July 1, Online

The government has admitted that a Hercules C-130 aircraft owned by the Indonesian Air Force that crashed in Medan, North Sumatra, on Tuesday, was too old at over 50 years of age.

'€œIt was an old aircraft, already 50 years old, but it was about to undergo a retrofit. In all we now have 20 Hercules airplanes,'€ Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.

There were 113 passengers on the Hercules C-130 aircraft that crashed into a residential area on Tuesday. All passengers as well as three local residents are feared dead in the tragedy.

According to Kalla, the Indonesian Military (TNI) started buying aircraft in the 1950s, and in the 1960s the Hercules airplanes started entering Indonesia.


Your comments:

In quote: '€œWith regard to compensation for the victims of the crash, Kalla said that military airplanes were not covered by insurance. Nevertheless, the government expressed condolences for the incident.'€

I guess the VP does not respect the military enough to ensure the victims'€™ families are supported.  

How pathetic is that? I demand he do the right thing. Full government insurance payments and without exception.

The only thing too old in this matter is Kalla.  Time for him to be pensioned off!

Joko Ono

Many air forces have aging Hercules. Let'€™s look at our neighbor Singapore, where all the Hercules are at least 40 years old and some over 50. None have ever crashed.

But as far as I know, their Hercules are not made to fly non-operational flights for the convenience of service personnel'€™s families.

They fly as needed and when they are not in the air they receive maintenance!

Ponders

There is a common law principle called '€œduty of care'€ - maybe not in Indonesia, but in most countries, the moment the passengers boarded the aircraft the government was liable.  

Rusty Nails

It'€™s interesting that we blame the plane, but it seems we still can'€™t be told how many people were on the plane when it crashed.

First, there were only 12 crew members. Then about 120, only military personnel and family, and now it is reported there were civilians on the plane as well. Are there any controls over who flies in military planes in Indonesia?

Are there any records that are complete as to passengers carried, and freight carried?

Are there any maintenance records? Let'€™s not look too closely. Better blame the manufacturer who built the plane over 50 years ago. Sounds reasonable to me!

Yeti

Mr. VP, sometime ago the Indonesian government bought a new Russian aircraft for Indonesia.

Experienced pilots took it up into the air and it crashed! Did anyone blame the '€œnew aircraft?'€ I don'€™t think so. It was a tragedy caused by human error.

The government should take responsibility, helping the victims by providing for their basic needs.

Yonouca

Mr. Vice President, please do not make unsubstantiated statements.

Let the professionals investigate and make their professional conclusions. You are not qualified to issue any conclusive opinion on this.

Malam

Old aircraft flying is nothing unusual.  The techniques in aircraft restoration ensure aircraft built in the 1930s continue to fly today.  

However to avoid accidents it is necessary that the highest standards in aircraft inspection, repair and maintenance are in force.  Restored aircraft also have a life before undergoing major overhauls sometimes amounting to rebuilds.

Jagera

Somehow all this will be twisted and bent by the Indonesian government to portray this as the fault of the Americans who sold or gave old surplus military equipment to Indonesia, in order to mask the real problem: poor maintenance and an overloaded aircraft.

S Dollar

The plane crashed into houses two minutes after taking off '€” a good example of why residential areas should not be built at the end of airport runways.

Eddy saf

What is his point about insurance? Not having insurance doesn'€™t make the claim go away. It just means you have to pay, rather than your insurance company!

Kantisini

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