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Indonesian Air Force Grounds T-50i Jet Trainers Following Crash

Yulian Ardiansyah - : Jul 23, 2022 - : 4:51 pm

The Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) decided to temporarily ground its fleet of T-50i jet trainers following a fatal crash at Blora, Central Java on Monday evening (18 July). The decision was taken to conduct an investigation of the crash that killed its pilot in a solo night flying training mission. 

“The (Indonesian) Air Force has temporarily grounded all T-50 aircraft until the investigation is completed,” said General Andika Perkasa, Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) on Friday (22 July). “Regarding the cause, there is a possibility of human error, (or) the aircraft, management, […] also the weather, these (all are) what we are investigating.”

An Indonesian Air Force’s T-50i jet trainer aircraft with tail number TT-5009 took off from Iswahjudi Air Force Base (AFB) at Madiun, East Java on Monday, 18 July 2022 at 18:24 WIB (UTC +7). Piloted by  1st Lt. Allan Safitra Indra Wahyudi to conduct a solo night flying training mission, Iswahjudi AFB established the last radio contact with the pilot at 19:07 WIB. Shortly afterward, the airbase received a report of a plane crash in a hilly region at Blora regency, Central Java province, which was then confirmed as the missing T-50i.

TNI-AU acquired 16 T-50i aircraft made by South Korea’s Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in 2014 as the first export customer of the jet trainer to replace the Hawk Mk. 53 jet trainers in service with TNI-AU since the 1980s. In 2015, a T-50i was lost in a fatal crash during a flight demonstration that killed both pilots. In 2020, a TNI-AU trainer pilot died from his injury after the aircraft skidded off the runway during take-off whereas his trainee survived the accident.

The latest accident has reduced the number of the T-50i in the TNI-AU service to 13 aircraft. 

In 2021, Indonesia signed a contract for six additional T-50i from KAI to be delivered to TNI-AU by October 2024.

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