Indonesia investigates number of passengers on crashed plane

MEDAN, Indonesia (AP) — An air force transport plane that crashed in Indonesia carried more passengers than the military previously reported, raising the death toll to more than 140 on Wednesday combined with victims from the neighborhood where the aircraft went down in flames.

Hitching rides on military planes to reach remote destinations is common in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago that spans three time zones.

Supriatna, the air force chief, has said the pilot told the control tower that he needed to turn back because of engine trouble and the plane crashed while turning right to return to the airport.

Indonesia has a patchy civil aviation safety record and its cash-strapped air force has suffered a series of accidents.

The country's most recent civilian airline disaster was in December, when an AirAsia jet with 162 people on board crashed into the Java Sea en route from Surabaya to Singapore.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said he ordered the defense minister and armed forces commander to carry out a "fundamental overhaul" of the management of military weaponry.