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Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 516

29 Mar 1977 · Donggala Regency, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 · Controlled flight into terrain caused by pilot error

From Mutiara - SIS Al-Jufrie Airport (PLW) to Sultan Bantilan Airport (TLI)

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Event

Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
Event fatalities
13 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
23
Survivors
10
InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
Unknown
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Airline

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300

Flight
MZ516
Aircraft type
de Havilland DHC-6
Category
Airplane · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
PK-NUP
Onboard fatalities
13
Route
From Mutiara - SIS Al-Jufrie Airport (PLW)To Sultan Bantilan Airport (TLI)

Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.

From the Wikipedia article

Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 516 was a domestic commercial passenger 50-minutes flight, flying from Mutiara Airport, Palu to Lalos Airport in Tolitoli Regency, Indonesia operated by a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300.

The aircraft crashed into Mount Tinombala in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Killing 13 people on board.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 516” (revision 1356724125, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article

Sources

Wikipedia article: Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 516
Article
Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 516
Revision
1356724125 · 2026-05-29 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q136090139
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
Record
Wikipedia article "Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 516" (page 80787081, revision 1356724125)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
none
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
airline flight number in the infobox
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.