INDONESIA: A preliminary inquiry into the crash of an Indonesian aircraft in which 149 people died has found a fuel problem with one of the aircraft's engines, a transport safety official said.
Setyo Rahardjo, head of the National Transport Safety Committee, said investigators had found a fault in one of the two engines on the Boeing 737-200, which crashed into a crowded neighbourhood in the city of Medan on Monday.
As investigators sought more answers, authorities buried 33 victims who were too charred to identify in a field next to a mass grave containing the remains of passengers from a previous air crash, in 1997, near Indonesia's third-biggest city.
Hundreds of family members wept and some fainted in the sweltering heat as soldiers lowered simple wooden coffins one by one into a freshly dug hole. Two excavators poured earth on top, blotting out the stench of rotting flesh.
Mr Rahardjo did not say which engine he was referring to, but added that visually it looked like there had been a problem.
"During our preliminary investigation we have found a fuel problem. To be exact it was on the fan blade, but it needs to be noted that the findings are preliminary and at this stage we cannot conclude engine failure as the cause," he said.
The aircraft burst into flames shortly after take-off, causing the deaths of 149 people, 102 of them on board the Mandala flight and 47 others on the ground. Fifteen passengers in the tail section survived.
The plane's black box and flight recorder are still being examined and officials have said they will be sent overseas.
Commercial aircraft are designed to cope with the failure of one engine on take-off. Its remaining engines, even if there is only one, should have enough power to get the plane to a safe flying speed before returning to the runway. But a fuel problem might shut down all engines.
In recent years soaring fuel prices have hit Indonesia's airlines hard, while the growth of budget carriers has brought pressure to keep fares down. Some smaller companies have gone out of business and others have been forced to cut services.
But local airline safety experts have largely dismissed speculation that competition has hurt airline maintenance. - (Reuters)