page_title: Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 8968
section_title: Accident
hierarchical_section_title: Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 8968 / History of the flight / Accident
caption_attribution_description: English: Merpati Nusantara Airlines PK-MZK wreckage
context_page_description: Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 8968 was a passenger flight which crashed off the coast of West Papua, Indonesia, on 7 May 2011. The aircraft involved, a Xian MA60, was operating Merpati Nusantara Airlines' scheduled domestic service from Sorong to Kaimana, both in West Papua. It crashed into the sea in heavy rain, while on approach to Kaimana, about 500 metres before the runway.
  All 25 people on board the aircraft perished. The crash was the deadliest crash in 2011 in Indonesia and the first fatal crash of a Xian MA60.
  The final report, published by the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee, found no evidence of technical faults in the aircraft. It concluded that the crew lost situational awareness while initiating a missed approach, and allowed the aircraft to descend into the sea. Kaimana Airport has no published instrument approach procedure and all operations must be conducted visually. However, at the time of the accident, the visibility was below the minimum required for visual flight.
context_section_description: The aircraft was on final approach, after being in a holding pattern for fifteen minutes, to the Kaimana Airport at about 1400 local time (0500 UTC). During the approach to Kaimana, the flight crew flew to the south of the airport in an attempt to make a visual approach. The auto-pilot was disengaged at 960 feet pressure altitude.
  At 376 feet, the crew decided to discontinue the approach and climbed, turned to the left, increased the engine power, retracted flaps from 15 to 5 and subsequently to 0 position and retracted the landing gear. The aircraft rolled to the left with a bank angle of 11 and continuously increased up to 38 degrees. The rate of descent increased significantly up to about 3000 feet per minute. It crashed into the water about 500 metres (1,600 ft) southwest of the runway. The weather at the time of the accident was rain and fog, with visibility less than 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). An official at the Ministry of Air Transportation said that "there was heavy rainfall, which shortened the [pilot's] range of vision. It was also very dark." After impacting the water, the aircraft broke into at least two main pieces and sank in about 30 metres (98 ft) of water. According to a local navy officer, the aircraft "exploded" on impact, killing all on board.
caption: Part of fuselage recovered after the crash
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