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Crashed jet 'landed too fast'
07/03/2007 08:41 - (SA)
Jakarta - An Indonesian passenger jet that erupted in flames, killing at least 49 people on Wednesday, was travelling too fast and ran off the runway, an air force commander at the site said.
"The plane was too fast or overspeeding, so it ran about 300 metres off the runway," First Air Marshal Benyamin Dandel, the airforce commander at Yogyakarta, where the accident took place, told the Detikcom news website.
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister said there was no suggestion that terrorism was responsible for the crash.
Around 10 Australian journalists and officials covering a ministerial visit to Indonesia were aboard the Garuda plane, and Howard said that while some had survived, the country should "be prepared for bad news".
The prime minister said in response to a question at a news conference that he had not heard any suggestion that sabotage was responsible for the crash.
"I have not received any advice suggesting it was anything other than a tragic accident," he said.
"I don't know the cause yet, I can only say I have not received any advice suggesting that there was sabotage or a terrorist attack."
Howard said he had authorised all necessary personnel, resources and aircraft to be made available to assist in the medical evacuation of survivors who needed treatment in Australia.
Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer told reporters in Jakarta that five Australians on board the flight were injured and four were missing, the national AAP news agency reported.
- AFP
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