Aviation

7.3, crash, fatalities

Indonesia: at least 49 people were confirmed dead after a Boeing 737-400 (PK-GZC) with 140 on board - including Australians -crashed and burst into flames at Indonesia’s Yogyakarta Airport. Garuda Airlines said there were 133 passengers and seven crew on flight GA-200 from Jakarta when it crashed. It is probable that the deadly fireball that engulfed the jet was sparked when the plane’s front wheels snapped off on landing. The Garuda flight’s two pilots had survived the inferno and their testimony will be crucial to the investigation. The plane’s digital flight recorder and cockpit voice recorder were also expected to yield essential information to piece together the cause of the disaster. Witnesses said that as the plane hurtled out of control along the runway its engines also snapped off. The wings are also the tanks for the petrol. A senior investigator at Australia’s National Transport Safety Commission said findings showed the plane had been damaged after hitting an embankment by the runway. Relatives of passengers injured or killed in three major air crashes involving local airlines — Mandala Air, Adam Air and, and more recently, Garuda Indonesia — are lining up to sue the makers of the aircraft and their components. A law suite was filed in a US court on behalf of the families of the 75 victims of the Mandala Air accident in Medan, and 11 victims of the recent Adam Air accident.