Sixty-two aboard crashed Indonesia military plane: TV

Reuters/Roni Bintang Security forces examine the wreckage of an Indonesian military C-130 Hercules transport plane after it crashed into a residential area in the North Sumatra city of Medan, Indonesia.

Relatives of one of the victim of the crashed military airplane mourn as they wait for the body of the victims at a military hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, June 30, 2015.

Thirty-eight bodies have been recovered from the crash site of an Indonesian military aircraft in the city of Medan, said Zulkifli, an official at the Indonesian Red Cross.

Hishammuddin in his Twitter Tuesday night expressed “Deepest sympathies & heartfelt condolences to Pak Ryamizard ( Ryamizard Ryacudu, Indonesia’s Defence Minister), TNI (Indonesia’s Armed Forces) and the people of Indonesia on the Hercules C-130 tragedy in Medan”.

Following the crash, Supriatna said the military was grounding some of its Hercules planes. It plowed into a building that local media said contained shops and homes. Several witnesses told reporters the aircraft appeared to explode shortly before it smashed into houses and a hotel. 12 crew and 101 passengers where on board, and account for most of the casualties.

Indonesian military spokesman Maj. It had travelled from the capital, Jakarta, and stopped at two locations before arriving at Medan. It came just six months after an AirAsia aircraft crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people on board.

Mr Badarmanto said it was unclear what had caused the crash and, until it is, eight other C-130Bs would be grounded.

Previously, the air force’s safety record was marred by low flight hours and parts shortages that stemmed from a USA ban on defense sales to Indonesia, but that no longer applies with the lifting of those restrictions more than five years ago.

“The plane crashed while it was turning right to return to the airport”, Supriatna told ABC News.

The plane took off at 12.08pm local time (05.08 GMT) from an airforce base and crashed in the city just two minutes later, about 5km (three miles) from the base. In 2005, a Mandala Airlines domestic flight crashed shortly after take-off into a densely populated suburb, killing at least 150 including passengers, crew and people on the ground.

“The latest information we have is that 30 have died”, Hisar Turnip of the Basarnas search and rescue agency told Reuters.

However, the transport plane accident could bring pressure on the president to spend more on modernising the air force.