Background
On 26 January 2008, a Casa 212-200 aircraft, registered PK-VSE, was operated by PT. Dirgantara Air Service as a cargo charter flight from Tarakan Airport (TRK) to Long Apung Airport (LPU). The flight carried three persons: two pilots and one aircraft maintenance engineer/load master. The aircraft was certified as airworthy prior to departure.
Flight and Accident Sequence
The aircraft departed Tarakan at 0011 UTC (08:11 local time) with an estimated time of arrival at Long Apung of 0136. At 0411, the pilot of another aircraft received a distress signal and notified air traffic services at Tarakan. Searchers later located the aircraft wreckage at an elevation of 2,766 feet, approximately 3.4 nautical miles from Long Apung Airport. The accident site coordinates were 01° 39.483′ S and 115° 00.265′ E, near Lidung Payau Village, Malinau, East Kalimantan. The site was on the left downwind leg of runway 35 circuit.
Probable Cause
Official findings identified: the aircraft was airworthy before departure; all crew members held valid licenses; the pilots continued flight into instrument meteorological conditions; the aircraft impacted terrain in controlled flight; and the cargo was not adequately restrained. The causes were that the crew did not appear to have awareness of the aircraft’s proximity to terrain until impact was imminent, and the pilot attempted to continue the flight in instrument meteorological conditions below the lowest safe altitude.