Military Plane Slams Into Jakarta Homes

2 kids, nanny among 10 dead
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 21, 2012 12:21 PM CDT
Military Plane Slams Into Jakarta Homes
Youths walk on a rice field as the site where an Indonesian air force plane crashed is seen in the background in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, June 21, 2012.   (AP Photo/Jefri Tarigan)

An Indonesian air force plane slammed into a military housing complex and ignited a huge fireball today while trying to land in Jakarta, killing all seven people aboard as well as two toddlers and their nanny in a home. The pilot, co-pilot, and five trainees aboard the Fokker F-27 were on a routine training flight when it crashed into houses in a neighborhood about a mile from the runway where it was trying to land, Indonesian military spokesmen said.

Raging orange flames jumped several yards into the air and a huge column of black smoke billowed over the eight homes damaged in the crash in eastern Jakarta. Twelve people were injured, two critically. The aircraft, which was built in 1958 and has been used by Indonesia's air force for the past 35 years with 14,900 flight hours, was declared airworthy before it took off for its second training flight of the day under clear skies, said an air force rep. "It seemed that the pilot was trying to land on a nearby paddy field," he noted. "But it was not clear whether it was because of an emergency." (More Indonesia stories.)

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