Video: The Indonesian jet crash

posted at 9:09 am on March 8, 2007 by Allahpundit

Amazingly, all but 21 passengers survived. The pilot says the plane got caught in a downdraft on its way in and bounced off the runway and back into the air; normal procedure in those circumstances is to come around and try to land again, but he felt he had to put it back down even though he was going “very fast” and had overrun the runway. It’s not clear yet why that happened. The pilot thinks the wing flaps might have malfunctioned.

Seeing some of the cops and bystanders loitering uncomfortably close to the burning fuselage reminded me of 9/11. You’d never believe how many people were standing around in City Hall park that day gawking at the Towers, easily within range of being crushed if the buildings had fallen sideways instead of straight down.

They do start to hustle once the burning oxygen tanks start popping.

Blowback

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

Trackbacks/Pings

Trackback URL

Comments

The pilots lived??? Wow. Cause when ya look at the pictures it seems the nose and cockpit are all squished in. Thank God for those who lived and bless those who didn’t.

Tony737 on March 8, 2007 at 9:18 AM

Seriously. The cockpit is blown off the front of the plane.

Allahpundit on March 8, 2007 at 9:21 AM

As a youngster, from the first time I saw a Corpsman do his thing, nothing but deepest awe & respect for first responders.

Stephen M on March 8, 2007 at 9:29 AM

Wow. I cannot believe how many people were able to just walk away from that. Amazing.

Did you notice that the entire back of one guy’s pants was missing (about 55 seconds in)? The front of the pants were there, and his underwear seemed intact. How in the world could that happen?

aero on March 8, 2007 at 9:35 AM

I’m so glad that most of the people survived. One problem I have with this though… why the h*ll would the guy behind the camera continue shooting instead of seeing if any of the people needed help. Are people *that* anxious for their 15 minutes?

This guy should do some serious soul-searching.

dalewalt on March 8, 2007 at 9:36 AM

dalewalt, agreed. Seems like they could have used an extra set of hands to carry people away.

amerpundit on March 8, 2007 at 9:42 AM

Yup, dalewait,reminds me of the Kinison bit on photogs and starving Etheopian children.

bbz123 on March 8, 2007 at 9:46 AM

Walking Dead

Drtuddle on March 8, 2007 at 10:14 AM

One word, Haliburton.

JackM on March 8, 2007 at 10:53 AM

Did you notice that the entire back of one guy’s pants was missing (about 55 seconds in)? The front of the pants were there, and his underwear seemed intact. How in the world could that happen?

aero on March 8, 2007 at 9:35 AM

As the well known aviation phrase goes: ‘he flew by the seat of his pants.’

Shy Guy on March 8, 2007 at 10:57 AM

I thought it was funny when the explosions started to happen , he hid behind some leaves.

VinceP1974 on March 8, 2007 at 11:04 AM

I speak Indonesian, so I’ll pass on what I can.

There’s not much dialogue I can pick out from the video. Early on there’s a woman standing near someone on the ground calling for help (she says “tolong, pak” several times, which is “help, sir”). Moments later is when the tanks start going off, and the stewardess is trying to get one of the passengers to get up and move (she says, “berdiri, pak”, which is “stand up, sir”). The sort of things you’d expect to hear, I suppose.

Sad, sad.

TexasDan on March 8, 2007 at 11:36 AM

Video is a little too raw for me. Is there any reason we really need to see people burning to death in the plane?

lorien1973 on March 8, 2007 at 11:41 AM

easily within range of being crushed if the buildings had fallen sideways instead of straight down.

Ah, but they didn’t fall sideways did they? Because it was controlled!

Mark V. on March 8, 2007 at 12:14 PM

Apa Kabar Texas Dan

I worked in Indonesia for 3 years back before and around Gulf War One. At times I would have to fly between Jakarta and Surabaya. I did not enjoy the flights on Garuda. I always had a feeling that the planes were not kept up properly

While waiting for a flight back to Jakarta I heard a frustrated Aussie remark “Garuda – Go And Rest Until Delay Announced”

BobK on March 8, 2007 at 12:59 PM

Although you don’t see any evidence of it in this video, the dirty little secret why many people don’t survive when an airliner crashes intact and burns is that many people stop and get their carry-on luggage out of the overhead bins during the evacuation. That slows down the evacuation enough that the last people in line suffocate or are poisoned by fumes from the burning interior.

You only have seconds to escape when your burning jet comes to rest. Don’t spend them rescuing your iPod and shaving kit. Get your ass out of the jet and at least 300 yards away.

Tantor on March 8, 2007 at 1:05 PM

Automatically locking overhead compartments. Compartments won’t open until flightcrew orders them to.

You can’t prevent stupid people … you can only make it difficult for them to get other people killed.

Kristopher on March 8, 2007 at 1:42 PM

BobK-

Baik baik aja!

I also lived in Indo for 3 years, and I took flights on all kinds of airlines there. Mom and Pop doesn’t begin to describe it. Garuda is, I’ve been told, exemplary in their maintenance and training compared to the Adam Airs and Boraq’s. They all sprung up after Gulf War #1, so you missed the experience.

TexasDan on March 8, 2007 at 2:26 PM