Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 6517 (MZ6517/MNA6517) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Bajawa to Kupang, Indonesia. On 10 June 2013, the Xian MA60 twin turboprop operating the route crashed on the runway while landing at Kupang's El Tari Airport, injuring 25 occupants, five seriously. The aircraft was severely damaged in the impact and subsequently written off.
Investigation by the National Transportation Safety Committee, assisted by Chinese Civil Aviation Administration of China, concluded that the flight crew's mismanagement of the engine controls led to a loss of propeller thrust and lift shortly before touchdown, resulting in a hard landing far in excess of the airframe's structural limits.
Accident
Flight 6517 departed Bajawa Turulelo Soa Airport at 09.00 a.m local time carrying 46 passengers and 4 crews on board with an ETA of 9:40 a.m. The flight was uneventful until its landing. First Officer Au Young Vunpin was the pilot flying and Captain Aditya Pri Joewono was the Pilot Monitoring. At 09:22, the flight crews made first communication with El Tari Control Tower controller (El Tari Tower) and reported their position and maintaining 11,500 ft. The pilot received information that the runway in use was 07 and the weather information. Flight 6517 later descended approved their descent clearance of 5.000 ft. At 09.38 local time, the crew reported the aircraft was passing 10,500 ft and stated that the flight was on Visual Meteorological Condition (VMC). El Tari Airport then obtained visual contact with Flight 6517 and issued a landing clearance. At 09.51 a.m, the crew reported that their position was on final and the El Tari Tower re-issued the landing clearance. Flight 6517 then extended its landing gear.
On 10.15 a.m, Flight 6517 bounced three times and slammed onto the tarmac. It broke into two sections. Both the left wing and the right wing were bent forward (the entire wing structure was separated intact from the fuselage which collapsed under its own weight) and both propellers were destroyed. Eyewitness recalled that there was a massive explosion when the crash occurred. It then skidded for several meters. After the aircraft stopped, the flight attendants assessed the situation and decided to evacuate the passengers through the rear main entrance door.
A total of 25 people were injured in the crash. One pilot and four passengers who seated on row number three, seven and eight suffered serious injury. Several injured passengers suffered shock from the crash and was taken into El Tari's VVIP Lounge. Several people were admitted to the airport's military hospital, the Kupang Military Hospital, located on the west of the airport. Several of the injured were taken to the Prof. Dr. WZ Johannes Public Hospital. Military personnel immediately assisted the survivors and sterilized the crash site.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the crash was a Xian MA60 registered in Indonesia as PK-MZO with a serial number of MSN 608. It was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127J. It had its first flight in 2010 with a total airframe hours of 4.486 and cycles of 4.133. The aircraft was delivered to Merpati Nusantara Airlines in 2010.
Passengers and crews
Flight 6517 was carrying 50 passengers and crews, with all except two on board, one passenger and one flight crew, were Indonesians. One passenger was an American citizen, identified as Aloysius Deene. The co-pilot was a Malaysian. However, various media falsely reported the co-pilot nationality as South Korea. The pilot of the flight was identified as Aditya Pri Joewono and the co-pilot was identified as Au Young Vunpin. Captain Aditya joined the company on 1 November 1994. He had a total flying hours of 12.530 hours, in which 2.050 hours of them were on the Xian MA60. Captain Aditya was qualified as route instructor and has been performed approximately 218 instructing flight hours. First Officer Vunpin was new to the company and had just acquired a total flying hours of 58 hours. Merpati spokesman stated that First Officer Vunpin was still in training, having joined the company for only 3 months.First Officer Vunpin was on training program with approximately 141 hours, including 24 hours as observer. The operator had planned to checked First Officer Vunpin to be a qualified first officer on the next schedule but he requested another multi days schedule to be more confident prior to flight check.