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97 killed in Indonesian military plane crash

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-20 15:02

Rescuers at the crash site of Indonesian military transport plane in Magetan in East Java on May 20. At least 78 were killed in the plane crash involving the Indonesian Air Force, Hercules C-130 aircraft. [Agencies]

But several witnesses described hearing a large explosion while it was still in the air and then seeing it split apart.

"One of the wings fell off," Agus Yulianto, a villager, was quoted as saying on the Web site of Kompas newspaper. "Then the plane nose-dived into the houses."

The accident occurred 325 miles (520 kilometers) east of the capital, Jakarta.

The country's air force has long complained of being underfunded and handicapped by a recently lifted U.S. ban on weapons sales. It has suffered a series of accidents, including a Fokker 27 plane that crashed into an airport hangar last month, killing all 24 onboard.

A series of commercial airline crashes in recent years has killed more than 120 people in Indonesia.

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