Indonesian leader says locked gates contributed to deaths of 39 at Jakarta airport
Indonesia’s new president, who says there is an Islamist plot to take over the country, says the locks of the gates at Jakarta’s international airport contributed to the deaths of 39 people when the plane crashed there.
President Joko Widodo has made the comments after his government said the crash involving a Russian-made Tupolev Tu-154 airplane had been caused by “interference from outside forces” and he blamed it on the Indonesian military.
“The lock of the departure gate contributed to the deaths and the plane’s failure to land in Jakarta Airport’s Terminal 1,” Widodo said as he announced the deployment of special forces to help investigate the crash.
The president said he did not ask for any compensation from the country’s government following the crash.
He said he wanted nothing from the crash and that the tragedy had highlighted how he wanted to bring the country’s economy and infrastructure back on track in order to turn the country’s growth into stability and development.
Widodo said that the country had the financial resources to finance new infrastructure, including roads and new airports.
He said the government would ask the international community to help it build a new international airport to reduce the congestion caused by the current crowded airports in Jakarta.
Widodo said the government’s proposal was designed to ensure the safety of passengers who were able to evacuate the plane.
The new president said security measures were being considered at all airports in the country and that special forces would be sent to assist in the investigation.
The crash occurred at 1.20 pm Wednesday after the plane, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, had been cleared to land in Jakarta.
As the plane took off, a member of staff at the airport alerted the ground control that the plane was in trouble with the right stabiliser and had to immediately turn around with an extra push on the yoke, or stick, of the plane’s control column.
As the plane took off, the aircraft
