Flight 708 departed Jakarta at 00:30 GMT (February 15) for a flight to Menado via Surabaya and Makassar. On the second leg of the flight bad weather at Makassar forced the crew to return to Surabaya. The flight continued the next day to Makassar and on to Menado. Weather at Menado was cloud base at 900 feet and 2 km visibility. An approach to runway 18 was made, but after passing a hill 200 feet above runway elevation and 2720 feet short of the threshold, the pilot realised he was too high and left of the centreline. The nose was lowered and the aircraft banked right to intercept the glide path. The speed decreased below the 125 knots target threshold speed and the aircraft, still banked to the right, landed heavily 156 feet short of the runway threshold. The undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft skidded and caught fire. PROBABLE CAUSE: “An awkward technique resulting in an excessive rate of sink on touchdown. Contributory factors were: (1) The runway width of 98ft which looks smaller from the pilot’s point of view; (2) The uneven pavement which forces pilots to touchdown as close as possible to the threshold; (3) The marginal weather conditions prevailing at the time of the accident which forced the pilot to accomplish a tight circuit; (4) The relationship between the rate of sink and negative thrust at low speed were not known to the pilot and operator.”