Hercules crashed in Medan Indonesia
 

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian military spokesman says a Hercules C-130 plane has crashed into a residential neighborhood of Medan city in Sumatra.Indonesian television on Tuesday broadcast blurry images from the city of a downed aircraft in flames.Maj. Gen. Fuad Basya confirmed the crash but had no other details.

Current news reported the aircraft crashed around 1208 LT (0508 UTC), 2 minutes after took off.



http://assets.kompas.com/data/photo/...da9780x390.jpg

More here.

Happened shortly after departure; pilot had asked to return due to a technical problem.

Built in 1964...is it usual for a 50yo plane still to be in operation?


'According to the Aviation Safety Network, there have been 10 fatal crashes involving Indonesian military or police aircraft over the last decade.


The accidents put under a spotlight the safety record of Indonesia's aviation and its ageing commercial and military aircraft. Basya said the plane that crashed on Tuesday was built in 1964.'

Susier not only is it possible for 50 year old aircraft to still be operated but the RAF is now taking delivery of ac of that sort of age. B52s in the USAF are I think iro 60 years old. Shouldn't be an issue as long as maintenance is carried out correctly and any shortcomings rectified.

Thank you, Kitbag. That sounds fair enough to me.

Certainly in the later years of the RAF Hercules, it was common for all the crew to be younger than the aircraft, but they were well maintained, ergo not a problem.

Hmm... BBC says 113 on board, Sky says only 12.

re age of airframes...and B-52: maiden flight 1952, manufactured until 1962, the US plans to keep them in service well into the 2040ies...that will be 90 year old airframes. With proper maintenance, and updated components, no problem at all. "age" in years is a red herring anyway, flight hours is more important.

BBC report timed at around midday says "at least 12 crew members on board", presumably all among the 37 or more fatalities.

Indonesia transport plane crash: At least 37 killed - BBC News

Photos
 

The BBC site already carries some better photos. Tail plus main ramp door lie inverted. One MLG wheel plus tire rolled out. One engine missing its cowling.

A very large crowd standing very close to a still smoking debris field. Hope all the fuel is out or gone and hope they did not carry ammo.

And hope critical parts remain where they are.

Swedish media is also on the ball.

Militärplan kraschade i bostadsområde i Indonesien - DN.SE

According to this, there were 12 crew members and 101 pax.

Please note the many iPhones in the crowd:

http://d3.dn-static.se/UploadedImage...jpg?id=1294260

http://d3.dn-static.se/UploadedImage...jpg?id=1294260

There appears to be much confusion over the precise number of POB. Indonesian police are quoted as saying that 50 were manifested on the flight from Medan, but that "12 crew" and more than 100 others were reportedly on the flight to Medan itself.

From the AP via New York Times

Other reports say the plane hit at least two houses and a hotel. It is believed some are still trapped inside the structures so there may be additional casualties on the ground.

I've been through the Medan airport a few times. It is - quite literally - right in the middle of the city. I expect there will be a lot of casualties on the ground :uhoh:

I know this will sound like a silly question, but what would be the "normal" seating capacity of a C130? If you exceeded that number of people, would overload or aft C of G become a risk? (or would a normal load of cargo be heavy/more dense that pax anyway)?

In some Asian countries the capacity is limited by floor space and the size of the pasengers. In 1999 I once had the "pleasure" of sitting on the jump seat with five crew while another eleven people stood cramped on the flight deck. Why so crowded? The seats were taken out and ropes were strung across the cargo deck so the 169 other passengers could hold on.

It was a C-130B and my in-flight entertainment was to watch the condensation drip off the air conditioning ducts onto a strategically placed newspaper covering a device labelled "Essential Buss B".

In some countries define flight safety based on your ability to walk away from the landing. You walk away, it must have been a safe flight. Unfortunately the inverse outcome as in this case can be tragic.

Blakmax

Normal seating with webbing seats max POB was 92. During Cyclone Tracy in 1974 I had 185 POB on a C130A with 17 on the flight deck and others strapped to the ramp and on an Esky cooler

A crash of an Indonesian Air Force C-130 in 2009 was similar in nature.

Three previous known Indonesian Air Force C-130 losses:

C-130B A-1302 written-off 11 May 2009


C-130H-30 A-1324 written-off 5 Oct 1991


C-130H-MP A-1322 written-off 20 Nov 1985

(Courtesy of Bbadanov from the Land of Oz)

In the RAF Hercules K simulator, we used to give an exercise that pitchlocked the prop at rotate.

It's not "uncontrollable", but does have to be handled correctly . . .

We'll see . . .

Awaiting the storm of 'let's wait for the enquiry' posts.

Step Turn, a B model Herc would have seating for 96 pax. That involves back to back webbing seats down the middle of the cargo compartment and a row along both walls. Five crew on top of that.

But as others have said, that's not the way it is done everywhere in the world.