Passengers 62 Survivors 0 Registration PK-MVS Site Sumatra Survivor 0 | Crew 7 Aircraft type Vickers Viscount Date 10 November 1971 Total fatalities 69 (all) Passenger count 62 | |
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Flight origin Kemayoran Airport, Jakarta, Indonesia Operator Merpati Nusantara Airlines Similar 1971 Colorado Aviation, Merpati Nusantara Airlines Fl, 1971 January 22 Surgut Ae, Merpati Nusantara Airlines Fl, Aviogenex Flight 130 | ||
On 10 November 1971, a Merpati Nusantara Airlines Vickers Viscount, registration PK-MVS, crashed in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia, after telling air traffic controllers they could not make their destination due to bad weather. All 69 people aboard the aircraft were killed in the crash.
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At the time, the accident was the worst in the history of Indonesia; it is today the ninth worst aviation accident in Indonesian history. It remains the third worst Vickers Viscount accident.
Accident
The aircraft was flying between Kemayoran Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Tabing Airport, the former airport of Padang, Indonesia. Five minutes before it was scheduled to arrive at Padang, air traffic controllers lost radio contact with the flight. Controllers at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport, Palembang, Sumatra, reported the aircraft issued a distress signal from the aircraft. The flight crew reportedly said they could not land at Padang because of poor weather and bad visibility. The aircraft subsequently crashed into the Indian Ocean, killing all 62 passengers and seven crew aboard the aircraft.
Passengers and crew
All the passengers aboard the aircraft were Indonesian nationals, except for a German doctor and his wife, and a British helicopter pilot who was employed in Indonesia. Eight children were also aboard the flight.
Aftermath
Three days after the accident pieces of the wreckage were found floating 75 miles off Sumatra, Indonesia. Fisherman found seats of the aircraft between the Beringin and Katang-Katang islands. An Indonesian Navy boat also recovered clothes and uninflated life rafts.