Posted on 06/30/2015 5:00:15 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
At least 55 people were killed when a military transport plane crashed into a residential area shortly after take-off in northern Indonesia on Tuesday, but the toll looked set to rise after it emerged that more than 100 people had been on board.
"It looks like there are no survivors," Air Marshal Agus Supriatna told Metro TV in the Sumatra city of Medan, adding that some of the 113 passengers were air force families.
The crash of the C-130B Hercules aircraft, which went into service half a century ago, is bound to put a fresh spotlight on Indonesia's woeful air safety record and its aging planes.
Officials said the plane plunged into a built-up area of the Sumatra city of Medan. Eye witnesses said it had appeared to explode shortly before it smashed into houses and a hotel.
An official at a nearby hospital who declined to be named said that 55 bodies had been brought in so far. In the first hours after the crash officials had said that only a crew of 12 service personnel were on board.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
There was **112 people** on that C 130 and that is the highest number of people that I’ve ever heard ever on a Herky Bird.
There is a small chance that it was simply overloaded.
Wikipedia says up to 128 for the stretch C-130J-30, but if there weren’t enough jump seats configured and the troops were just sitting on the floor, I suppose it is possible that they shifted aft on takeoff and disrupted the trim and balance of the aircraft.
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