Jakarta Plane Crash

[f11vid]

Earlier, Australia's prime minister had said that Indonesian officials had confirmed 49 people were dead. It was unclear where he got that information.

Television video shot by a cameraman for Australia's Seven Network who survived the landing showed passengers fleeing the plane as black smoke, then orange flames, poured from the fuselage.

An explosion and fireball ripped through the air, apparently as the fire reached a fuel tank, the footage showed. It showed dazed and burned victims, including Indonesians and Westerners, sitting on the floor or lying on gurneys in the airport terminal.

Seven Network said the cameraman shot the video after escaping from the fire.


(excerpt from AP story)

[Buck]

Man, you buried the lead on this thread. It should have been: TV PHOTOG SURVIVES CRASH, SHOOTS AFTERMATH.




http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070307/D8NNAI0G0.html

Flames Engulf Indonesian Jet, Killing 21



Mar 7, 6:58 AM (ET)

By IRWAN FIRDAUS

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A packed jetliner crash-landed and erupted in flames Wednesday, killing at least 21 people trapped inside the burning wreckage. More than 115 others escaped through emergency exits as black smoke billowed behind them, authorities and witnesses said.


Survivors said the Boeing 737-400 operated by the national carrier, Garuda, shook violently as the plane approached Yogyakarta airport and then overshot the runway, plowing through a fence and then coming to a halt in a rice field.


"Suddenly there was smoke inside the fuselage; it hit the runway and then it landed in a rice field," local Islamic leader Dien Syamsudin told El-Shinta radio station. "I saw a foreigner. His clothes were on fire and I jumped from the emergency exit. Thank God I survived."


The government ordered an investigation into the crash, the third involving a commercial jetliner in the country in as many months. On New Year's Day, a jet plummeted into the sea, killing all 102 people on board. Weeks later, a plane broke apart on landing, though there were no casualties.


About 19 foreigners were on board Wednesday's flight from Jakarta, nine of them Australians. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said five of the nine survived the fire with injuries, and information was urgently being sought on the others.


"It is a terrible tragedy," Australian Prime Minister John Howard told a nationally television news conference. "Many lives have been lost, and our love and sympathy and condolences go to those who are suffering distress and grief."


Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa told reporters in Yogyakarta that 21 of the 140 passengers and crew on board died, while two others remained unaccounted for. He said that two of the dead were Australian citizens.


Earlier, Australia's prime minister had said that Indonesian officials had confirmed 49 people were dead. It was unclear where he got that information.
Television video shot by a cameraman for Australia's Seven Network who survived the landing showed passengers fleeing the plane as black smoke, then orange flames, poured from the fuselage.


An explosion and fireball ripped through the air, apparently as the fire reached a fuel tank, the footage showed. It showed dazed and burned victims, including Indonesians and Westerners, sitting on the floor or lying on gurneys in the airport terminal.
Seven Network said the cameraman shot the video after escaping from the fire.


President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered a thorough investigation into the crash, appointing the security minister to look into possible "nontechnical" causes, said spokesman Andi Mallarangeng, in an apparent reference to sabotage.


The blaze started at the front of the plane as it touched down at the airport, said survivors, several of whom had time to take their hand luggage with them. It took more than two hours to put out the fire.


The Australians on board were diplomatic staff and journalists who were traveling from the capital, Jakarta, ahead of Australia's Foreign Affairs minister and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, who had been due to attend a function later Wednesday. Neither official was aboard the stricken plane.


Howard said he had no information foul play was suspected.


"I have not received any advice suggesting it was anything other than a tragic accident," he told reporters in Melbourne. "I've not received any advice suggesting that there was sabotage or a terrorist attack."


Another survivor told local TV station RCTI TV that "before landing I felt the plane shake strongly."
"We overshot the runway, then I heard the sound of an explosion and ran through an emergency exit," said passenger Muhammad Dimyati.


Indonesia has been hit by a string of transportation disasters in recent months. In late December, a passenger ferry sank in a storm in the Java Sea, killing more than 400 people.


Days later, a passenger plane operated by the budget airline Adam Air crashed into the ocean, killing all 102 people on board. A ship that sank near the capital's port left at least 50 dead.


The government responded by saying it would ban local commercial airlines from operating planes more than 10 years old, though most experts say maintenance and the number of takeoffs and landings are the most important factors in preventing accidents.

[Buck]

Here's a link to the video:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/

[photogguy]

Anyone know yet who the Seven Network photog is? Widescreen, any guesses?

Great video, for just surviving a crash.

[f11vid]

If you watch the video,they credit Wayan Sukhardo as the cameraman and state that he may have suffered a broken leg in the crash.A seperate account I read had Seven Network stating that the cameraman was a freelancer contracted to cover the Australian official party,traveling seperately.

[Deaf and Blind]

I'm just trying to find out if any other freelancers were on the flight as normally the guys from Darwin cover that area.
Will keep you posted as I find out more.
At the moment it has been confirmed two federal policemen, one journalist, one embassy staffer from Jakarter and one aus,aid business worker. are missing presumed dead.

Will post if I find out other freelancers were on the flight.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/i-took-the-other-plane-now-i-mourn-my-friends/2007/03/08/1173166809133.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/the-planes-crashing-seven-cameraman-screams/2007/03/07/1173166789646.html

[Widescreen]

“Who cares? Too far away to matter.” by Mighty Dickhead

Go **** yourself you little ****ed up turd. If I ever see you I will tear you a new arsehole, you **** for brains dickhead.

………..now as for the cameraman. He was a freelance Indonesian shooting for Australian 7 Network, Wayan Sukardo. He also shot it with a broken leg!


Here is a blurb from http://www.guardian.co.uk/indonesia/Story/0,,2028518,00.html (http://www.guardian.co.uk/indonesia/Story/0,,2028518,00.html)

A cameraman working for an Australian broadcaster shot dramatic footage of survivors escaping today's Indonesian plane crash - despite suffering a suspected broken leg in the accident.

At least 22 of 140 passengers on the Garuda airlines flight are reported to have died in the crash at Yogyakarta early this morning.

The BBC reported that 118 people survived but the remaining passengers, including six journalists, are still not accounted for.

Freelance cameraman Wayan Sukardo managed to film the aftermath of the crash for Australia's Seven News after crawling free from the wreckage with a suspected broken leg.

The plane wreckage can be seen burning in the footage, while the downed aircraft's jet engines are still going emitting a high-pitched whine.
At least one journalist is thought to have died when the plane crashed in Indonesia early this morning.

Australian Financial Review reporter Morgan Mellish was one of eight Australian journalists on the Garuda airlines flight from Jakarta that crashed at Yogyakarta in central Java and is still unaccounted for.

Sydney Morning Herald reporter Cynthia Banham survived but sustained injuries as she escaped from the plane. She is reported to have 60% burns.
The plane veered off the runway and crashed through a fence at Yogyakarta. Most passengers managed to escape from the wreckage before the aircraft's fuel tanks exploded.

Garuda Airlines said that 22 people died in the crash.
Journalists had been covering a trip to Indonesia by Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer.

He was travelling on a separate plane and had been due to meet the head of a Muslim organisation, Din Samsyuddin, who was also traveling on the Garuda flight that crashed.

[2000lux]

I agree. Talk about burying the lead! Especially on this site!

I found the Retuers package video on this site too:

The Australian. (http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21345797-601,00.html?from=public_rss)

I suspect his leg was fractured, not really broken. He obviously stands up and moves around quite a bit. Not that a fracture is no big deal! Ow!

For some one who's probably got a lot of adrenaline pumping though his veins, plus being in a lot of pain, and probably shock, the shots are pretty steady!

I always think about how I'm going to get the camera out of the overhead compartment and out of the plane when I put it in the over head compartment (I know the stewards are going to insist that I leave it behind). I think about how much battery and tape I have. "How am I going to shoot this if we crash on a mountain and don't get rescued for a week if I only have one battery and tape?..."

Do you think it was a full size broadcast camera or a handy cam? From the way he shoots my first thought is that it is a full size camera.

Dykerson. Usysally I don't bother responding to your posts because I know it only encourages your pathetic sense of humor. I don't see the humor in pissing people off. It's less than juvenile. This time you've really crossed the line. This site is in an international community. There are people on this board who probably know some of the peolple who were killed. I don't think you were making any insightful comment on how oblivious most Americans are to the rest of the world (it was an inapropriate way to do that any way). I think you are just one of those oblivious Americans.