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Aviastar Flight 7503
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Aviastar Flight 7503
Aviastar Flight 7503 was a regional flight from Masamba to Makassar, Indonesia. On 2 October 2015, the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft serving the route went missing with 10 on board near Palopo minutes after takeoff. There was no distress call from the plane.
After an extensive search operation, three days later the plane was found crashed and it was confirmed that all 10 on board were dead. It was Aviastar's deadliest crash.
National Transportation Safety Committee released the final report in January 2017 and concluded that the crash was caused by pilot error. They found out that both pilots agreed to deviate the plane from its designated route and decided to "take a shortcut", and thus cutting the travel time of the airplane. However, by doing so, the plane would have had to pass the mountains on the middle of the route. This would not have happened if they stayed at their designated track which was near the shoreline. The report also noted the absence of warning of the ground proximity warning system (EGPWS).
Aviastar was temporarily suspended by the Indonesian government following the crash and all its entire fleet was grounded, but the airline resumed limited operations afterwards. However, as of 2024, the airline has been declared no longer operating since 2022 after its website was closed by that year.
The aircraft took off from Masamba Airport at 14:25 WITA (06:25 UTC) with 3 crew and 7 passengers on board. It was expected to land in Makassar one hour later at 15:25, but eleven minutes after take-off, the plane lost contact with the control tower. At the time of the loss, the aircraft was on an elevation of 8,000 ft. According to local reports, the weather was cited as excellent, with visibility above 100 km and winds at 5 knots. The route which was chosen in this flight was a "very safe" route with elevation ranging around 10–100 ft, meaning that there are no mountains or large hills in the route. The communication between the flight crews and the air traffic controller at the time was also reported as very good. The fuel on board was sufficient for the flight, and according to Aviastar, the aircraft was determined to be in very good condition. This was backed up by evidence from KNKT (National Transportation Safety Committee).
Immediately after the crash, the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) set up a crisis centre in Makassar. They also sent 100 search and rescue personnel to the area. The first day of the search was by foot. The plane had not yet been located at that time. As nightfall approached, the search was suspended, even though citizens in the regency of Palopo claimed that they saw a "very low" flying plane in the area. These reports were later confirmed to be hoaxes.
On the second day, search and rescue personnel from Masamba and Makassar searched the same area with one helicopter and three aircraft from Aviastar. The search area was widened, from Palopo and the surrounding areas to Luwu shoreline. In a press conference, BASARNAS reported that the position of the missing plane was around 14 nautical square miles. It had officially widened to 24 nautical square miles, which would take around 2.5 hours by land from the nearest city. There were three coordinates which BASARNAS suspected to be the crash site, which is at 14 nautical miles, 24 nautical miles and 34 nautical miles. The aircraft was finally located by the signal from the engineer's cellphone, which was set in Airplane Mode. The search operation was hampered due to poor weather condition in the area. At early dusk, some people reported that the plane was found in the area of Sidrap. The claim was later investigated.
BASARNAS sent around 125 personnel on the second day of the search operations, with National Armed Forces assistance. Head of BASARNAS, Bambang Soelistyo, said in a press conference that his personnel along with the National Armed Forces and some other personnel from Luwu had scoured four main areas, in Luwu regency, Northern Luwu regency and Palopo Regency.
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Aviastar Flight 7503
Aviastar Flight 7503 was a regional flight from Masamba to Makassar, Indonesia. On 2 October 2015, the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft serving the route went missing with 10 on board near Palopo minutes after takeoff. There was no distress call from the plane.
After an extensive search operation, three days later the plane was found crashed and it was confirmed that all 10 on board were dead. It was Aviastar's deadliest crash.
National Transportation Safety Committee released the final report in January 2017 and concluded that the crash was caused by pilot error. They found out that both pilots agreed to deviate the plane from its designated route and decided to "take a shortcut", and thus cutting the travel time of the airplane. However, by doing so, the plane would have had to pass the mountains on the middle of the route. This would not have happened if they stayed at their designated track which was near the shoreline. The report also noted the absence of warning of the ground proximity warning system (EGPWS).
Aviastar was temporarily suspended by the Indonesian government following the crash and all its entire fleet was grounded, but the airline resumed limited operations afterwards. However, as of 2024, the airline has been declared no longer operating since 2022 after its website was closed by that year.
The aircraft took off from Masamba Airport at 14:25 WITA (06:25 UTC) with 3 crew and 7 passengers on board. It was expected to land in Makassar one hour later at 15:25, but eleven minutes after take-off, the plane lost contact with the control tower. At the time of the loss, the aircraft was on an elevation of 8,000 ft. According to local reports, the weather was cited as excellent, with visibility above 100 km and winds at 5 knots. The route which was chosen in this flight was a "very safe" route with elevation ranging around 10–100 ft, meaning that there are no mountains or large hills in the route. The communication between the flight crews and the air traffic controller at the time was also reported as very good. The fuel on board was sufficient for the flight, and according to Aviastar, the aircraft was determined to be in very good condition. This was backed up by evidence from KNKT (National Transportation Safety Committee).
Immediately after the crash, the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) set up a crisis centre in Makassar. They also sent 100 search and rescue personnel to the area. The first day of the search was by foot. The plane had not yet been located at that time. As nightfall approached, the search was suspended, even though citizens in the regency of Palopo claimed that they saw a "very low" flying plane in the area. These reports were later confirmed to be hoaxes.
On the second day, search and rescue personnel from Masamba and Makassar searched the same area with one helicopter and three aircraft from Aviastar. The search area was widened, from Palopo and the surrounding areas to Luwu shoreline. In a press conference, BASARNAS reported that the position of the missing plane was around 14 nautical square miles. It had officially widened to 24 nautical square miles, which would take around 2.5 hours by land from the nearest city. There were three coordinates which BASARNAS suspected to be the crash site, which is at 14 nautical miles, 24 nautical miles and 34 nautical miles. The aircraft was finally located by the signal from the engineer's cellphone, which was set in Airplane Mode. The search operation was hampered due to poor weather condition in the area. At early dusk, some people reported that the plane was found in the area of Sidrap. The claim was later investigated.
BASARNAS sent around 125 personnel on the second day of the search operations, with National Armed Forces assistance. Head of BASARNAS, Bambang Soelistyo, said in a press conference that his personnel along with the National Armed Forces and some other personnel from Luwu had scoured four main areas, in Luwu regency, Northern Luwu regency and Palopo Regency.
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