MEDAN, Indonesia, July 2 (UPI) -- The Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport plane that crashed in Indonesia suffered from a propeller malfunction on one engine before crashing.
Air Marshal Agus Supriatna told reporters that the "initial finding" in the investigation suggested the crash may have been caused by an engine problem that led a propeller to fail, adding that all four of the plane's engines and the abnormal propeller were recovered.
The pilot of the turboprop plane asked for permission to return to base shortly before it crashed, with one witness reporting that the plane looked like it lost power.
The search for victims has ended. At least 141 bodies have been recovered from the crash, where at least 19 died on the ground.
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None of the 122 people aboard the military transport plane survived. The plane hit several houses, shops and a hotel in the city of Medan before erupting into flames on Tuesday.
The plane apparently crashed as it was turning right in an attempt to return to base after the pilot complained about a technical issue.
The plane took off from Soewondo Air Force Base, about three miles away. Only the tail of the plane was recognizable from the debris.
Many of the deceased are not military personnel. The Indonesian military allows relatives of servicemembers to hitch rides on military aircraft, but the definition of relatives is often used ambiguously.
The military is investigating if people were using the protocol to buy cheaper, more convenient flights. There were students and non-related civilians aboard the plane when it crashed.
Several relatives of the victims have said their family members paid to board the aircraft.
The plane was built in the United States in the 1960s and was inspected and cleared for flight, according to a military official.
At least six military aircraft incidents have occurred in Indonesia since 2009, including an F-16 fighter jet catching fire after taking off in Jakarta in April and another military transport plane crashing in Java in 2009, killing 98 people.
