At least 20 die in Indonesian crash

An airliner carrying 133 passengers and seven crew members burst into flames as it landed today in Yogyakarta, a popular tourist destination on the island of Java.

An airline official said 20 people were killed, but a provincial official and Australian Prime Minister John Howard were quoted as saying 49 had died.

The crash was the latest in a series of transportation accidents in Indonesia that have resulted in hundreds of deaths since late last year. Dozens of people aboard the flight were taken to a hospital, many with minor injuries, officials said.

Survivors said the plane, a Boeing 737-400 operated by the state-owned Garuda Airlines, was shuddering violently as it landed and overshot the runway, crashing in a rice field.

An Australian Foreign Affairs Department spokesman said “a number” of Australian diplomats, officials and journalists were aboard, the Associated Press reported. Alexander Downer, Australia’s foreign minister, was scheduled to visit Yogyakarta’s Muhammadiyah University and meet with local officials today, but he was reportedly not aboard.

The airliner, Garuda Flight 200, departed the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, at 6 a.m. and arrived at Adisucipto Airport an hour later.

Survivor Din Syamsudin, head of Muhammadiyah, the country’s second largest Islamic organization, said he suffered a slight injury to his forehead.

“I think I’ve been saved by God,” he told Metro TV.

Syamsudin said he fainted when the aircraft “bumped” a second time on landing.

“When I woke up, it was dark, the lights were off, smoked filled the aircraft,” he said. “I heard people screaming God’s name. Someone was screaming ‘Right ... right!’ Then I walked to the right side, and I found the emergency exit. I jumped out.”

At least 76 of 133 passengers were rescued, Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa said.

Another survivor, identified as Mahfud, said he was seated in the sixth row and heard “a cracking sound” on landing.

“The wheel sound was not normal,” he said. “The smoke appeared in the middle part of the airplane. I got out from the back door on the left.”

Yogyakarta is a center of ancient Javanese culture with numerous temples that draw large numbers of tourists.

Indonesia’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, had ordered an investigation of transportation safety after disasters killed hundreds of sea and air passengers.

On New Year’s Day, a jetliner operated by the budget airline Adam Air, carrying 102 passengers and crew, disappeared and is believed to have crashed into the Java Sea. Since late December, two ferry disasters have killed more than 350 people.

paul.watson@latimes.com