2 killed in failed aerobatic show in Indonesia

JAKARTA - The pilot and co-pilot onboard a small plane were killed Saturday after the plane plummeted to a building in Indonesia's Bandung airport following a failed maneuver they conducted in a domestic air show, Air Force spokesman Agung Sasongko said.

The plane, owned by the Indonesian Aerosport Federation, went down at about 11:30 am Jakarta time at Husein Sastranegara and exploded, the spokesman said. "The crash took place when the plane is performing a show. All the two people on board were killed," Agung told Xinhua by phone.  

The crash took place as the plane flied too low after conducted five loop maneuvers in Bandung Air show, the Metro TV reported.

"The plane crashed when the pilots conducted flypass acrobatic flight from north to south direction of the runway. They lost the height and crashed into an air force's building located in the airport premises," Bambang S Ervan, transportation ministry spokesperson said in an interview with metro TV.

He said that the crashed plane was from the type of Bravo 2010 registered as LM2003, and belongs to Indonesian air force. The two perished plane crews were identified as Norman Lubis and Toni Hartono.

The four-day event of Bandung Air Show began on Sept 27. Bandung is the capital of West Java.

In 2010, a crash occurred in the same event, killed a pilot after the Cessna plane he piloted at failed to undertake an aerobatic maneuver.