Poor weather has been temporarily blamed for the main cause of the crash of 737-400 plane operated by local carrier Adam Air Corp in mountainous area that left over 90 dead and 12 seriously injured, an official of the company said on Tuesday.

 

 

The head of the rescue mission commodore Edi Suyanto said that the plane was completely smashed into pieces in Rangoan village of Polewali regency of Indonesia's West Sulawesi province.

 

"Our temporary conclusion that the main cause of the accident is poor weather," an official of Adam Air Fahmi Capriza told Xinhua on telephone from Makassar the capital of South Sulawesi province.

 

He said that the victims have been rushed to the nearest hospital in the regencies of Toraja in West Sulawesi province and Mamuju in South Sulawesi province.

 

"Twelve of them were in critical condition," he said.

 

The head of the rescue team Suyanto said that rescue workers with the help of local residents spotted the wreckage.

 

"The plane was found in ruins" Suyanto told Xinhua on telephone from Makassar.

 

Meteorology and Geophisics Agency official Zakir Hendra confirmed the poor weather in the waters of Java island and around South Kalimantan at the time of the accident.

 

"The weather became poor on 12:00 to 17:00 Jakarta time with thick of cloud, the-unstable compact air mass and strong wind blow passing through the Makassar Strait," he told Xinhua.

 

The plane lost contact at 15:07 Jakarta time, official of the company said.

 

Earlier Capten Hartono of Adam Air has said that had been on a good condition three days before the accident.

 

But he said other reasons could also be blamed on the crash.

 

The Boing 737 plane was on route of Java island to Sulawesi when it disappeared late Monday about an hour before it was due to land amid very bad weather.

 

Adam Air is one of more than dozens budget airline companies that have established in the country since 1999.

 

The strong competition has led to cheap price with suspicious on the safety standard.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 2, 2007)