Mandala Airlines Flight 091

Dozens of houses and cars were destroyed, and 49 people perished on the ground. 17 passengers survived the accident, with 100 of those on board known to have died, including three babies. Most of the survivors are thought to have been seated at the rear of the aircraft, though some have reportedly since died from their injuries. Most of the dead were Indonesian, although at least one Malaysian, Ti Teow Chuan from Sabah, was reported dead. Rizal Nurdin, the governor of North Sumatra at the time, and Raja Inal Siregar, the former governor, were among the dead.

Flight 091 has the second highest death toll of any aviation accident in Indonesia and anywhere in Sumatera and Melaka area after Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 and the highest death toll of any accident ever involving a Boeing 737-200.

Passengers

All five crew members, 95 of the 112 passengers, and 49 people on the ground were killed. 15 of the 17 surviving passengers and 26 people on the ground were injured.

Survivors

A passenger named Rohadi Sitepu told Metro TV from hospital that he and five other people seated in the back of the plane in Row 20 had all survived. "There was the sound of an explosion in the front and there was fire and then the aircraft fell," he said. Rohadi said he escaped the blazing wreck by jumping through the torn fuselage and fleeing on foot as four large explosions erupted behind him.

Another survivor, Freddy Ismail, told Elshinta Radio from his hospital bed that the aircraft seemed to be experiencing mechanical difficulties after take-off. "After take-off, the noise of the engine suddenly became very loud and the aircraft began shaking intensely before it suddenly fell," he said.

Notable passengers

• Rizal Nurdin
• Raja Inal Siregar

Aircraft and airline

The aircraft, registration PK-RIM, was built in 1981 and formerly belonged to Lufthansa Cityline where it was registered as D-ABHK "Bayreuth" and was acquired in 1999. The aircraft had a Certificate of Airworthiness valid until November 2005.

Mandala Airlines was established in 1969 and is one of several low-cost airlines that serve the vast Indonesian archipelago. At the time of the accident it was 90-percent owned by a foundation set up by the Indonesian Army strategic reserve Kostrad (Komando Strategis Angkatan Darat). In 2006 it was acquired by Cardig International and Indigo Partners. It has 1,000 employees (at March 2007).

Causes

Preliminary indications

Witnesses stated that the plane shook violently (possibly indicating a stall) and veered to the left shortly after take-off.

Observers reported smelling durian fruit in the crash, leading to suggestions that the plane was overloaded with the prized fruit. The director of the airline initially denied that durian was on board, but later admitted that 2.7 tonnes were loaded. The NTSC confirmed that 2 tonnes of durian were on board, but stated that overloading was not the cause of the accident.

Official investigation

The official final report on the accident was released by the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) of Indonesia on 1 January 2009. According to it the probable causes of the accident were the following:

• The aircraft took off with improper take-off configuration, namely with retracted flaps and slats causing the aircraft failed (sic) to lift off.
• Improper checklist procedure execution had led to failure to identify the flap in retract position.
• The aircraft's Take-off warning system horn was not heard on the CAM channel of the CVR. It is possible that the take-off configuration warning was not sounding.