Two People Injured, Several Aircraft Grounded By Indonesian Government

A Chinese-built MA60 turboprop made what was described as a "crash landing" in Myanmar on Tuesday, prompting the government of Indonesia to completely write off the airplane and ground several others pending safety inspections.

The aircraft, built by AVIC, had 52 people on board. Two received minor injuries, but the plane was considered a total loss.

The French news service AFP reports that Myanmar Airways owns three of the MA60s, and this is reportedly the second incident involving one of the aircraft in less than a month. The director general of Myanmar's Civil Aviation Department told AFP that, in his view, "accidents happen because of system failure. We will check all the systems. That's why we stopped the operation of the planes."

While they have been certified by Chinese and Indonesian aviation authorities, the MA60 has not been given certification by either the FAA or EASA.

The Indonesian Transport Ministry will conduct a special audit of the aircraft, which a spokesman said would take as long as three months. The only other Indonesian carrier currently flying the MA60, Merpati, said it has no plans to ground its 13 airplanes. Five of those are currently undergoing "routine maintenance." A Merpati MA60 went down in May of 2011 in West Papua province, resulting in the fatal injury of 25 people.

(Chinese MA60 pictured in file photo.)

FMI: http://hubud.dephub.go.id/?en