The minister said that the inspection has been carried out since Wednesday and would take for a week to finish examining the 12 MA-60s airplanes.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government has decided to ascertain the airworthiness of the 12 MA-60s belonging to state-owned Merpati Airlines in order to ensure the safety of their use in the future, a minister said.
"We have issued letters ordering an inspection and safety audit on the 12 MA-60 airplanes," Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi told a press conference at the presidential office here Thursday evening.
He said that the inspection on the airworthiness of the 12 MA-60s was done by a team formed by the ministry of transportation.
The minister said that the inspection has been carried out since Wednesday and would take for a week to finish examining the 12 MA-60s airplanes.
The government`s decision to investigate the airworthiness of the Chinese-build aircraft came up after a MA 60 belonging to Merpati crashed in Kaiman Bay, West Papua, on Saturday, killing 27 people.
It was the second accident befalling a MA-60 aircraft in Indonesia and the fifth in the world.
PT Merpati in 2006 made a deal with Xian Aircraft for the procurement of 15 MA-60 planes, in which the Indonesian government asked for a loan of 1.8 billion reminbi yuans, the equivalent of Rp2.1 trillion which was handed to Merpati as payment for the aircraft.
In 2007 because the government has made a funding decision, Merpati received only 2 units of MA-60 planes under a lease.
Then in December 2010 another 11 units had been approved in the 2010 State Budget.
The remaining 2 units were scheduled to come to Indonesia on May 19 and 20, 2011.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
