Lightning strikes light aircraft in Indonesia killing four - plane crashed into paddy field bursting into flames

  • Four passengers on board the aircraft died instantly in wreckage
  • Witness says plane was hit by lightning before its wing fell off
  • Authorities say the aircraft was refueling in Tual airport during downpours

By Chris Pleasance

Published: | Updated:

Four people have been killed after lightning struck a light aircraft in Indonesia causing it to crash and burst into flames.

Witness Akib Hanubun, 47, said the aircraft was pounded by fierce winds and rain before being hit by lightning and crashing near a village.

He said: 'The plane's left wing broke after it was struck by lightning. Then the plane appeared to tilt to one side before crashing to the ground loudly and bursting into flames.'

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All four passengers of this twin-engine aircraft died instantly after it was hit by lightning and crashed

All four passengers of this twin-engine aircraft died instantly after it was hit by lightning and crashed

He told AFP that rescuers pulled out 'four completely charred bodies from the wreckage. It was the most frightening sight'.

Transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan confirmed that all four people on board the aircraft were killed instantly.

'They were the pilot, two engineers and a ground handler,' he said.

He added that the Piper PA-34 Seneca owned by Intan Angkasa Air took off Sunday from Sentani town in Papua province and crashed into a paddy field near a housing complex in Tual on the Molucca Islands.

Ervan says a pilot, a technician and two staffers of the company were on their way to Surabaya city on the country's main island of Java for a routine inspection of the plane.

 
The plane, owned by Intan Angkasa Air, took off Sunday from Sentani town in Papua province and crashed into a paddy field near a housing complex in Tual on the Molucca Islands

The plane, owned by Intan Angkasa Air, took off Sunday from Sentani town in Papua province and crashed into a paddy field near a housing complex in Tual on the Molucca Islands

He said the pilot made a contact with the control tower minutes before the crash, but did not indicate any problems when asking to land to refuel in the Tual airport during heavy downpours.

The bodies of the four men were recovered from the charred wreckage Sunday afternoon and authorities were investigating the cause of the crash.

Indonesia, a sprawling nation of 240 million, has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years.

In April last year a Lion Air passenger jet carrying 108 people crashed into the sea after missing the runway as it came in to land on the resort island of Bali. No one died but dozens were injured.





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