By Ainur Romah
JAKARTA
The Indonesian military has denied that the age of an army transport plane that crashed killing the 122 people on board was a factor in its demise.
Army spokesperson Major General Fuad Basya underlined to local media Saturday that the plane would not have departed even if the smallest component - "a light, for example" - had suffered damage.
"All the army's equipment is always checked," Basya told MetroTV. "According to the maintenance record, the Hercules C-130 was highly qualified [to fly].”
More than 140 people have been confirmed dead after the flight carrying 39 servicemen and 83 civilians from military families crashed Tuesday in a residential area of Medan.
The plane's right engine is reported to have suffered problems, the flight then hitting a radio mast as the pilot tried to return to base.
Since the crash, politicians and military leaders have faced uncomfortable questions as to why such an old plane was allowed in the air.
“It was an old aircraft, already 50 years, but it was about to undergo a refit,” Vice President Jusuf Kalla said shortly after the crash, according to the Jakarta Post.
Basya underlined Saturday that under Indonesian regulation the plane would only be considered "old" on flying 38,000 hours, while the Hercules had flown just 28,000.
Kompass. com reported Air Marshal Agus Supriatna as saying Friday that preliminary investigations had revealed damage to the engine on the right side of the aircraft.
He added that the plane was flying at lower than normal speed when it hit the 30-meter antenna, situated 3.2 kilometers from the top of the runway
"The pilot could have coped with the situation had he not hit the towering radio antenna," he said.
