I am only a pax, have nearly zero knowledge of aircraft and have zero idea as to what caused this crash. With those caveats in place....
I used to fly Mandala when during the Indonesia / Asian crises they were one of the only airlines flying from Jakarta to Samerang (sp?). The planes were very old and though that may well be no indication of the safety of the thing the feeling I had on every flight (which only lasted <1hr) was one of at best, worry. The mix of elderly aircraft, falling apart aircraft interiors, 'strange' (lets say to a pax - 'abrupt') flying styles and poor service always used to make me very happy to get off the other end and sigh with relief.
This may well have no bearing whatsoever on this flight / incident but many of us who flew this airline certainly felt it was a question of when not if.
I apologise in advance if this is of no use to the proffessional flying community.