Indonesia to review ageing air force fleet after Hercules crash killed more than 140 people

Indonesia’s president promised a review of the country’s ageing air force fleet and a defence modernisation drive, as the death toll from the crash of a military transport plane in the north of the country climbed past 140.

The C-130B Hercules aircraft, which went into service half a century ago, ploughed into a residential area of the city of Medan yesterday, throwing a renewed spotlight on Indonesia’s woeful air safety record.

“There must be an evaluation of the age of planes and defence systems,” President Joko Widodo tweeted, as earth movers worked through the night to recover the dead from rubble of twisted metal and smashed buildings.

The TVOne news channel said 141 body bags had been brought to a hospital near the crash site, all but two of which contained complete bodies.

Officials said the Hercules, which plunged into houses and a hotel two minutes after take-off, had been carrying 122 people which would suggest around 20 were killed on the ground by the impact of the plane.

The plane had been on its way from an air force base in Medan, one of Indonesia’s largest cities, to Tanjung Pinang in the Riau Islands off Sumatra. Media said the pilot had asked to return to the base because of technical problems.

Widodo said he had ordered an in-depth investigation into the cause of the accident, which may be the deadliest yet for an air force with a long history of crashes, and a “fundamental restructurint” of weapons management and procurement.