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Survivors of the Indonesian air disaster last night described the Garuda jet's last moments as it crashed and burned on landing at Yogyakarta.
The Boeing 737-300 smashed into the ground and skidded hundreds of metres beyond the end of the runway before exploding into flame.
Garuda last night said 22 people died, including one of the seven crew members, while 118 other passengers and crew escaped. Earlier, a provincial official had put the death toll at 48.
"Before the plane landed it was shaking," survivor Dien Syamsudin said. "Suddenly there was smoke inside the fuselage ... I saw a foreigner. His clothes were on fire and I jumped from the emergency exit. Thank God I survived."
A witness, Erna Zulaeni, told Reuters: "It crashed into a hill and created three big blasts. It caught alight when it landed."
Survivor Muhammad Dimyati told a Yogyakarta television station the aircraft was completely gutted.
"Before landing I felt the plane shake strongly. We overshot the runway, then I heard the sound of an explosion and ran through an emergency exit. I believe many passengers remained trapped."
Airport official Captain Yos Bintoro earlier said dozens died.
"I saw many bodies, dozens of bodies badly burned near the exit. I saw people dead in the cockpit. I cannot say if that's the pilot or copilot."
The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs said there had been no reports of New Zealanders on the flight, but diplomatic staff in Indonesia were making inquiries.
Australian officials were late last night trying to confirm the fate of diplomats, federal police agents and media representatives who were on the flight from Jakarta.
The Australians were part of an advance group of about 10 flying to the city ahead of Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, who had held talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and attended a counter-terrorism conference in Jakarta.
Five Australians are feared dead in the crash.
Among the Australians involved were diplomat Liz O'Neill and Australian Financial Review journalist Morgan Mellish.
Two other missing Australians were an RAAF liaison staffer and an Australian federal police officer, Reuters reported.
Sky News reported that Sydney Morning Herald journalist Cynthia Banham, freelance cameraman Wayne Sukarda and an unnamed cameraman were in a nearby hospital.
The plane, on a regular commuter flight, overshot the runway by as much as 300m. Early speculation by aviation experts suggested the front wheel collapsed.
Other suggested possible causes have included locking brakes or a wheel fault, with the fire started by an electrical fault or a broken fuel line.
Sabotage is considered unlikely.
However President Yudhoyono ordered a full investigation into the crash, appointing the security minister to probe possible "non-technical" causes - an apparent reference to sabotage.
The crash has focused new attention on aviation safety in Indonesia, already under a cloud because of the number of accidents involving smaller airlines flying ageing aircraft .
Indonesia has suffered from a string of transport accidents in recent months, including an Adam Air plane that disappeared in January with 102 passengers and crew.
Garuda's Accident Record
Indonesian airline Garuda has now had seven major accidents during the past 25 years.
With a fleet of 53 aircraft, Garuda flies in challenging conditions above Indonesia and has to handle a lot of wild weather.
Before yesterday, the most recent major crash was in 1997 when all 222 passengers died when a Garuda Airbus crashed in low visibility 30km short of Medan airport in Sumatra.
In June 1996, a Garuda flight overran the runway at Fukuoka in Japan after aborting a take-off due to an engine fire. Three of the 275 people on board were killed.
In January 2002, an aircraft flying from Lombok, Bali, to Yogyakarta, Java, made an emergency landing in poor weather. A stewardess was killed in the accident.
Since 1950, Garuda has had 14 fatal accidents.
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