Spring Break
100 survive after jet bursts into flames
The Associated Press
Issue date: 3/8/07 Section: News
There is a AP video available on the right side of the Collegian Home Page that goes with this story
Yogyakarta, Indonesia - Survivors of the fiery crash-landing of a Boeing 737-400 Wednesday said the plane appeared to be going too fast and shook violently before it touched down, lurched off the runway and exploded in flames, killing at least 21 people.
About 115 dazed and bloodied survivors staggered from the Indonesian jetliner after it broke through a fence and came to rest in a rice paddy. Most escaped without major injuries, although several suffered burns and broken bones.
Those killed were trapped in the wreckage of the Garuda Airlines plane after it suddenly caught fire, sending billowing clouds of black smoke and flames high into the air. The plane had been carrying 140 passengers and crew, officials said. Two people were missing.
It was the third plane crash in as many months in Indonesia, and raised questions about the safety of the country's booming airline sector.
Alessandro Bertellotti, a journalist with Italian broadcaster RAI, said the plane was going at a "crazy speed" as it approached Yogyakarta airport after a 50-minute flight from the capital, Jakarta.
"It was going into a dive and I was certain we would crash on the ground," he told the Italian news agency ANSA. "I was sitting behind the wing. I saw that the pilot was trying to stop it, but it was too fast. It literarily bounced on the strip."
A man who lived near the crash site said the plane reached the end of the runway and then "jumped in the air."
"I heard a loud noise and saw flames," said Subarno, who like many Indonesians uses a single name. "I saw a man - I think he was the pilot - shouting 'Get out! Get out!' Some people were on fire. Not long after, there were three explosions."
Wayan Sukarda, an Indonesian cameraman for Australia's Seven Network, managed to scramble off the plane, then shot dramatic video of dazed passengers fleeing as smoke poured from the fuselage. An explosion and fireball then ripped through the air, apparently as the fire reached a fuel tank, the footage showed.
Yogyakarta, Indonesia - Survivors of the fiery crash-landing of a Boeing 737-400 Wednesday said the plane appeared to be going too fast and shook violently before it touched down, lurched off the runway and exploded in flames, killing at least 21 people.
About 115 dazed and bloodied survivors staggered from the Indonesian jetliner after it broke through a fence and came to rest in a rice paddy. Most escaped without major injuries, although several suffered burns and broken bones.
Those killed were trapped in the wreckage of the Garuda Airlines plane after it suddenly caught fire, sending billowing clouds of black smoke and flames high into the air. The plane had been carrying 140 passengers and crew, officials said. Two people were missing.
It was the third plane crash in as many months in Indonesia, and raised questions about the safety of the country's booming airline sector.
Alessandro Bertellotti, a journalist with Italian broadcaster RAI, said the plane was going at a "crazy speed" as it approached Yogyakarta airport after a 50-minute flight from the capital, Jakarta.
"It was going into a dive and I was certain we would crash on the ground," he told the Italian news agency ANSA. "I was sitting behind the wing. I saw that the pilot was trying to stop it, but it was too fast. It literarily bounced on the strip."
A man who lived near the crash site said the plane reached the end of the runway and then "jumped in the air."
"I heard a loud noise and saw flames," said Subarno, who like many Indonesians uses a single name. "I saw a man - I think he was the pilot - shouting 'Get out! Get out!' Some people were on fire. Not long after, there were three explosions."
Wayan Sukarda, an Indonesian cameraman for Australia's Seven Network, managed to scramble off the plane, then shot dramatic video of dazed passengers fleeing as smoke poured from the fuselage. An explosion and fireball then ripped through the air, apparently as the fire reached a fuel tank, the footage showed.
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