The Indonesian air force investigation into the 22 June crash of a Fokker F27 transport aircraft will take three months.
In the interim, however, the air force declined to offer possible reasons for the crash, despite media speculation that the aircraft may have been suffering engine trouble.
Meanwhile, a witness who was at Halim airport at the time of the crash described the F27's final moments to Flightglobal.
The witness, a charter pilot, was standing on the apron to the north of runway 06 when he heard the F27's engines. He looked over his shoulder to watch the landing.
He was surprised to see the aircraft 10-20 feet above the runway flying with a pitch down attitude of 5 degrees with the landing gear down. He also felt the sound of the engines was surprisingly soft given the aircraft's altitude.
"I was surprised they were that far down the runway without landing," he said.
What happened next surprised him more: the F-27 banked 30 degrees to the left, its left wing tip just feet from the grass at the edge of the runway. The aircraft subsequently levelled off and climbed to 100 feet.
But half a mile from the end of the runway it again banked sharply to the left, finally crashing behind some buildings.
Sirens at Halim air base immediately went off, and the air base's fire trucks departed for the crash scene. Nonetheless, he said flight operations continued despite the absence of safety vehicles.
Source: Flight International
