Aircraft

Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) is working on the draft final report into the November crash on landing of a Dornier 328 turboprop aircraft in a remote part of eastern Indonesia.

NTSC's chief investigator into the accident, Frans Wenas, says he has already issued the factual report and is now working on the draft final report.

The accident, involving an Expressair Dornier 328 turboprop registered PK-TXL, occurred on 6 November at around 10:30 local time.

Expressair is an Indonesian domestic airline that normally operates Boeing 737-200s. This accident occurred just a few days after the airline started operating 328s.

There were 32 passengers and four crew on board the aircraft but no injuries were reported.

The aircraft came in to land at Fak Fak Airport in eastern Indonesia's West Papua province and, video footage of the event shows, it touched down short of the runway and the aircraft's landing gear hit the raised lip of the runway.

This damaged the landing gear and the aircraft slid along the runway, damaging the undercarriage.

The aircraft's owner is Indonesian maintenance, repair and overhaul firm Aero Nusantara Indonesia (ANI).

ANI CEO Sigurdur Gislasson tells ATI that "the aircraft is repairable but it is not economical to do so".

He says Expressair has one other 328, also on lease from ANI, and that ANI has secured six other 328s that will be delivered to Expressair by April.

These 328s were previously with one of US Airways' regional carriers, he adds.