Ill-Fated Plane Uses Parts from US and Europe : Merpati

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (Antara) - Indonesia's Merpati Airlines aircraft that made a hard landing at the El Tari airport in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, recently was very airworthy, president director Rudi Setyopurnomo said. "The type is very airworthy as it uses combination of spare parts from US and European companies," he said to newsmen here on Wednesday. He said China only assembled the plane and so the type like others was qualified as being airworthy. Rudi said it was a mere accident because the MA-60 aircraft was a tough and sophisticated plane assembled in China with all its parts produced in the US and Europe. "The Merpati MA-60 plane has sophisticated parts from the US and Europe," he said. He said an accident was something unpredictable even for the most sophisticated plane from any country. "No company produces aircraft with an aim of putting it into an accident or a pilot flies a plane that is prone to a crash. That is the principle and so it was a natural incident," he said. The Merpati Nusantara Airlines MA-60 aircraft flight number MZ 5617 carried 46 passengers and four crew including the pilot when it made a hard landing at the El Tari airport upon arrival from Ngada, Bajawa, Central Flores, at 9.52 local time on June 10. No one was killed in the incident but 20 of the passengers had been injured including the pilot. Regarding flight safety Rudi said Merpati has a flight simulator for routes served by the company including in the East Nusa Tenggara to assure flight safety. "Merpati also has a hangar in Surabaya that could conduct an overhaul on MA-60," he added. (*)