Passenger Plane Crashes Into Sea in Eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA — Up to 27 people were believed to be dead after a passenger plane crashed into the sea in eastern Indonesia on Saturday, officials said, the latest in a long line of transportation accidents in the archipelago nation.

The Chinese-made Xian MA60 propeller plane operated by Merpati Nusantara Airlines slammed into the sea with 21 passengers and six crew aboard while attempting to land amid rain and limited visibility at the town of Kaimana in the remote province of West Papua in the early afternoon, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Transportation Ministry.

“It was a regular landing. We don’t yet know what the cause was, or why, but we do know they crashed into the sea about 500 to 600 meters from the end of the runway,” Mr. Ervan said.

“Looking at the conditions there, we’re not expecting any survivors,” he said.

Rescuers, including local military units, that have been scouring the waters near Kaimana have been hampered by rough weather, said Suyatno, the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency in neighboring Papua Province. The search and rescue agency also was taking part in the search.

“We’ve found 15 people dead and identified them. We’re still looking for the rest,” he said. “We can’t say for sure everyone’s dead, but the signs do point that way.”

Indonesia, which sprawls across 17,000 islands, frequently suffers from ferry, train and plane accidents. Poor maintenance, lax safety standards and official corruption are blamed for many transportation accidents.

Merpati is among a slew of Indonesian airlines blacklisted by the European Union over safety concerns. Only six local airlines, including Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, are considered safe by the E.U.

View the original article here

Passenger Plane Crashes Into Sea in Eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA — Up to 27 people were believed to be dead after a passenger plane crashed into the sea in eastern Indonesia on Saturday, officials said, the latest in a long line of transportation accidents in the archipelago nation.

The Chinese-made Xian MA60 propeller plane operated by Merpati Nusantara Airlines slammed into the sea with 21 passengers and six crew aboard while attempting to land amid rain and limited visibility at the town of Kaimana in the remote province of West Papua in the early afternoon, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Transportation Ministry.

“It was a regular landing. We don’t yet know what the cause was, or why, but we do know they crashed into the sea about 500 to 600 meters from the end of the runway,” Mr. Ervan said.

“Looking at the conditions there, we’re not expecting any survivors,” he said.

Rescuers, including local military units, that have been scouring the waters near Kaimana have been hampered by rough weather, said Suyatno, the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency in neighboring Papua Province. The search and rescue agency also was taking part in the search.

“We’ve found 15 people dead and identified them. We’re still looking for the rest,” he said. “We can’t say for sure everyone’s dead, but the signs do point that way.”

Indonesia, which sprawls across 17,000 islands, frequently suffers from ferry, train and plane accidents. Poor maintenance, lax safety standards and official corruption are blamed for many transportation accidents.

Merpati is among a slew of Indonesian airlines blacklisted by the European Union over safety concerns. Only six local airlines, including Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, are considered safe by the E.U.

View the original article here

Passenger Plane Crashes Into Sea in Eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA — Up to 27 people were believed to be dead after a passenger plane crashed into the sea in eastern Indonesia on Saturday, officials said, the latest in a long line of transportation accidents in the archipelago nation.

The Chinese-made Xian MA60 propeller plane operated by Merpati Nusantara Airlines slammed into the sea with 21 passengers and six crew aboard while attempting to land amid rain and limited visibility at the town of Kaimana in the remote province of West Papua in the early afternoon, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Transportation Ministry.

“It was a regular landing. We don’t yet know what the cause was, or why, but we do know they crashed into the sea about 500 to 600 meters from the end of the runway,” Mr. Ervan said.

“Looking at the conditions there, we’re not expecting any survivors,” he said.

Rescuers, including local military units, that have been scouring the waters near Kaimana have been hampered by rough weather, said Suyatno, the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency in neighboring Papua Province. The search and rescue agency also was taking part in the search.

“We’ve found 15 people dead and identified them. We’re still looking for the rest,” he said. “We can’t say for sure everyone’s dead, but the signs do point that way.”

Indonesia, which sprawls across 17,000 islands, frequently suffers from ferry, train and plane accidents. Poor maintenance, lax safety standards and official corruption are blamed for many transportation accidents.

Merpati is among a slew of Indonesian airlines blacklisted by the European Union over safety concerns. Only six local airlines, including Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, are considered safe by the E.U.

View the original article here

Passenger Plane Crashes Into Sea in Eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA — Up to 27 people were believed to be dead after a passenger plane crashed into the sea in eastern Indonesia on Saturday, officials said, the latest in a long line of transportation accidents in the archipelago nation.

The Chinese-made Xian MA60 propeller plane operated by Merpati Nusantara Airlines slammed into the sea with 21 passengers and six crew aboard while attempting to land amid rain and limited visibility at the town of Kaimana in the remote province of West Papua in the early afternoon, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Transportation Ministry.

“It was a regular landing. We don’t yet know what the cause was, or why, but we do know they crashed into the sea about 500 to 600 meters from the end of the runway,” Mr. Ervan said.

“Looking at the conditions there, we’re not expecting any survivors,” he said.

Rescuers, including local military units, that have been scouring the waters near Kaimana have been hampered by rough weather, said Suyatno, the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency in neighboring Papua Province. The search and rescue agency also was taking part in the search.

“We’ve found 15 people dead and identified them. We’re still looking for the rest,” he said. “We can’t say for sure everyone’s dead, but the signs do point that way.”

Indonesia, which sprawls across 17,000 islands, frequently suffers from ferry, train and plane accidents. Poor maintenance, lax safety standards and official corruption are blamed for many transportation accidents.

Merpati is among a slew of Indonesian airlines blacklisted by the European Union over safety concerns. Only six local airlines, including Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, are considered safe by the E.U.

View the original article here

Indonesia MP quits over porn row

11 April 2011 Last updated at 05:48 ET A member of parliament from an Islamic party which promoted anti-pornography legislation has resigned after being caught watching porn in parliament.

Mr Arifinto of the Islamic Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) was photographed looking at the images on Friday.

He said he had inadvertently opened an email link which led him to the images.

Pornography has become one of the testing grounds of conservative Islam's influence over politics in Indonesia.

"For the recent developing media coverage, I apologise to all members of the party and parliament," Mr Arifinto - who goes by one name - told a news conference.

"I will continue to work for my party. I'm also going to continue to better myself, by repentance, reading the Koran and asking for guidance."

The BBC's Kate McGeown in Jakarta says the PKS was the driving force behind anti-pornography legislation, so that when one of its lawmakers was caught out, he was shown no mercy.

If it is proved that Mr Arifinto was indeed downloading a pornographic movie, as photography of his behaviour appears to show, he could find himself charged with a law of his own party's making.

"PKS lawmakers are human. What happened to [Arifinto] could happen to anybody else," said the head of the party's Shariah Body, Surahman Hidayat.

Members of other faiths and ethnic groups in the sprawling nation, including many moderate Muslims, have criticised the anti-pornography laws for constraining freedom of cultural expression.

Nazril "Ariel" Irham, pictured here with girlfriend Luna Maya, was jailed under pornography laws

Previously, the PKS and other conservative parties had hounded the former editor of an Indonesian edition of Playboy magazine, which carried no nudity.

In January this year, one of South East Asia's best known pop stars, Nazril Irham or Ariel as he is known, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for making and distributing sex videos on the internet. He denied distributing the videos, saying they had been stolen.

The Blackberry telephone provider, Research In Motion (RIM), has also been asked by the government to prevent pornographic content from being made available through their devices if they wish to maintain distribution in Indonesia.

Indonesia is a secular state with a long tradition of tolerance, but in recent years conservative Islamic groups have become more vocal.