By Ainur Rohmah
JAKARTA
Indonesia's president paid tribute Wednesday to the many military personnel who died when a C-130 Hercules plane crashed shortly after takeoff Tuesday into a residential area.
The bodies of the 142 victims have now been removed from the crash site, most of whom are suspected to have been either military personnel or family members.
Late Wednesday afternoon, North Sumatra Police Regional Spokesperson Helfi Assegaf confirmed to Anadolu Agency that all bodies had been removed from the site.
"Of those identified by the DVI (disaster victim identification) team, 31 are air force personnel, 25 are civilians, and six army."
All over Indonesia on Wednesday, flags flew at half-mast, while the families of victims waited for the identification process to be completed so they could bury the victims.
President Joko Widodo expressed his grief at a police anniversary ceremony in West Java.
"I would like to express my deepest condolences over the death of the best sons of the Indonesian Air Force in the accident," he said. "We wish remaining family members patience and strength."
Indonesian Air Force spokesperson Dwi Badarmanto confirmed Wednesday that 122 passengers were on board the flight, in addition to 12 crew.
“We had the list of the manifest and it was changing a lot. There were some children who were not named on the manifest, maybe five to eight,” he told reporters.
Witnesses have said that they saw the plane go into a roll, before it flew low over the area eventually crashing into buildings and coming to a rest amid the debris of a condominium and a massage parlour.
"The plane went into a dive and crashed into two buildings and then it exploded," Sumirah, a witness who like many Indonesians uses only one name, was quoted as saying by Detik.com.
On Wednesday, the head of air force staff, Air Marshall Agus Supriyatna, told Anadolu Agency that based on a request from the pilot he presumed the plane had suffered some kind of internal problem.
"The pilot requested to return to base, so it must have been damaged," he said.
"I can't get confirmation from those involved, but usually accidents are because of damage to machines or the plane's hydraulic equipment."
He underlined, however, that this this was purely speculation
"We should await the results of the investigation," he added.
One of the many who died was the plane's pilot, Captain Sandy Permana.
Permana's uncle, Sriyono, told AA by phone Wednesday that the father of two had recently lost his own parents.
"Sandy's mother died of an illness just three months ago, and just 40 days later his father followed her. Now we hear that he was involved in the accident... We submit to our fate."
Second Sergeant Ainul Abidin and his three children and wife were also among the victims.
Abidin's sister told Anadolu Agency that he had only just said goodbye to the rest of his family as he was taking them to his new assignment, in Natuna, on the Riau Islands.
"He asked for our forgiveness [before departing], and asked for our prayers to be granted," she said.
The cargo plane crashed at 12.08 (0608GMT) Tuesday, shortly after taking off from Soewondo Air Force Base in Medan, North Sumatra. Officials have said it was on its way to the island province of Riau, on a logistics mission.
Meanwhile, co-pilot, First Lieutenant Pandu Setiawan, was newly married.
His widow, Dewi Wulandari, told Kompas.com that he’d once tried to allay her fears when she said she was worried about the risks of his job.
"He told me that as a pilot, marriage and death are all in the hands of Allah, so do not be afraid," Wulandari was quoted as saying.
The head of North Sumatra's disaster victim identification team, Setyo Pranoto, told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that a team of 50 doctors was now working to identify the victims.
"Most of them are in an intact condition and suffered burns," he said.
The corpses -- many of which were found strewn around the wreckage, amid the remains of the buildings -- have been taken to the nearby Adam Malik Hospital in Medan.
Prior to Tuesday's incident, four accidents have occurred involving Hercules C-130 in Indonesia - the last in 1991 when 134 died.
Widodo on Tuesday said that the incident should serve as a warning to improve their equipment
"I order the defense minister and army commander to reform the management of army equipment. The supply system must be changed," he told a press conference in West Java.
He instructed the army to conduct a through investigation into the cause of the accident.
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