49 dead as Indonesian Jet crashes with 10 Australians aboard

AT least 49 people died and scores more were injured today when a jet carrying 10 Australians crash-landed and burst into flames at Yogyakarta Airport.

A number of Australians are among 50 passengers still unaccounted for. The 10 Australian passengers on board include one Foreign Affairs Department official, a Federal Police officer and "at least five media representatives".

"We found 48 dead bodies at the spot. One person died at Sardjito hospital," provincial secretary Bambang Susanto said, referring to the city's main medical centre.

The media contingent was covering Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's visit to Indonesia. Mr Downer was not on the flight.

Witnesses said the front wheel of the Garuda Indonesia plane burst as it touched down, causing flames to shoot into the air and triggering a series of explosions which sent the aircraft skidding off the runway. "I saw many bodies, dozens of bodies badly burnt near the exit,'' Captain Yos Bintoro, an airport official, told Elshinta radio. Prime Minister John Howard said at least 10 Australians were on board. They included injured survivor Cynthia Banham, a Sydney Morning Herald journalist, who has undergone surgery at a local hospital. Sources at the Australian embassy in Jakarta say a Hercules transport plane is believed to be on standby in Darwin to fly to Yogyakarta to evacuate injured Australians. They say an Australian embassy staffer has been taken to hospital for treatment with unknown injuries.