Indonesia to review aging air force fleet after deadly crash

http://atimes.com/2015/07/indonesia-to-review-aging-air-force-fleet-after-deadly-crash/

Indonesia to review aging air force fleet after deadly crash
By AT Editor on July 1, 2015

Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo promised a review of the country’s ageing air force fleet and a defense modernization drive on Wednesday, as the death toll from the crash of a military transport plane in the north of the country climbed to 141.

The Hercules C-130B aircraft, which went into service half a century ago, was carrying 122 people when it ploughed into a residential area in the city of Medan shortly after taking off from an airbase. The incident throws a renewed spotlight on Indonesia’s woeful air safety record.

A military spokesman said 135 people were confirmed dead, including all those on board the plane. The MetroTV news channel said at least 141 bodies had been brought to a nearby hospital, indicating around 20 people were killed on the ground.

“There must be an evaluation of the age of planes and defense systems,” Widodo tweeted late on Tuesday, as earth movers recovered the dead from rubble of twisted metal and smashed buildings.

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The C-130B was first introduced in 1959.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_C-130_Hercules#C-130B_model