Plane Consumed By Post-Crash Fire

At least 21 persons are confirmed lost the Wednesday morning crash of a PT Garuda Indonesia (Garuda Airlines) Boeing 737-400. In response to mounting concerns on the safety of Indonesia's airline industry following two fatal accidents within three months, the National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a team assist the government of Indonesia in its investigation.

As Aero-News reported, Garuda Airlines Flight 200 overran the runway upon landing at Yogyakarta Airport, Indonesia. The airplane was destroyed by post-impact fire. The NTSB says 112 passengers were able to either evacuate the plane, or were rescued; of those people, 50 sustained serious injuries.

Television reports stated the plane came to stop approximately 100 meters from the end of the runway, and was quickly engulfed in flames. Wednesday's accident follows the January 1 fatal crash of an Adam Air 737-300 off the coast of Sulawesi island.

"It's a serious problem when you have two fatal crashes in a short period of time,' said Jim Eckes, managing director of Hong Kong-based Indoswiss Aviation, to Bloomberg. "There's a lot of indication that airlines in Indonesia are not being maintained properly or that pilot training isn't up to par."

According to published reports, the accident aircraft, tail number PK-GZC, was 15 years old.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.garuda-indonesia.com/