MEDAN ~

Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal Agus Supriatna denied an allegation that the Hercules C-130 plane of the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) crashed in the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan on Tuesday due to overloading.

“No, there was no overloading,” he said on Wednesday.

The plane had a capacity to carry people and goods up to a total weight of 135 tons, he added.

It was allowed to takeoff from Polonia Airbase in Medan after all cargo had met its capacity requirements, Supriatna affirmed.

“The flight would have certainly not been allowed to takeoff had it been overloaded,” he pointed out.

Therefore, Supriatna believes that the plane crash, which claimed the lives of 122 people, was not caused by overloading. That the pilot of the airplane, Captain Sandy Permana, had made a request to return to the airbase confirmed the assumption, he remarked.

“There was no problem with capacity. This was clearly an accident,” he stated.

A Hercules C-130 transport aircraft of the TNI AU crashed in Jamin Ginting Road in Medan on Tuesday at 12:10 p.m. local time.

The site of the crash is widely known as one of the busiest roads that connects Medan and Brastagi tourist resort. The transport aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Polonia Airbase during its flight from Medan to Natuna Island.

The ill-fated aircraft was carrying supplies from Halim Perdanakusuma Airbase in Jakarta to several others, such as Pekanbaru, Medan, Tanjung Pinang, Ranai (Natuna Island), and Pontianak.