Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 5601 (MNA5601/MZ5601) was a domestic scheduled passenger flight, that departed Achmad Yani International Airport, Semarang, Indonesia bound for Husein Sastranegara International Airport, Bandung, Indonesia.

[2] The crash sparked large controversy and trust issues in every Indonesian built aircraft.

This is because the plane was produced and designed by Bacharudin Jusuf Habibie, a former Indonesian president who at the time held the position of State Minister of Science and Technology.

An Indonesian investigator team and the National Transportation Safety Committee confirmed that the cause of the crash wasn't because of design flaws, but due to pilot error aggravated by bad weather conditions.

The plane was on approach to Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, carrying twenty seven passengers and four crew.

Sumardi, the person in charge in ACO (Approach Control Office), told Flight 5601 that the weather in Bandung wasn't in very good condition with moderate precipitation and some thunder.

A search and rescue team was assembled by the National Search and Rescue Agency, consisting of Cisurupan military, one platoon from Yon 303 Cikajang Garut, Garut police and National Air Force Army consisting of ten people.

The plane's wreckage was found 60 kilometres (37 mi; 32 nmi) southeast of Bandung in Barukaso Pasir Uji, Cipaganti village, Cisurupan regency, Garut.

The body of a baby was found 20 metres (66 ft; 22 yd) from the wreckage, with the legs burnt due to a post-impact fire.

Most of the bodies were found in burnt condition and with large burn injuries due to a post-impact fire.

The post-fire was so intense in fact it burned the vegetation in the surrounding area and ignited some bush fire.

The plane's wreckage was strewn over a small area and situated in mountainous terrain, which is surrounded by two steep hills.

On Monday at dusk, one day after the crash, around twenty seven bodies had been found and recovered by authorities.

The evacuation process was observed and monitored by at the time Transportation Minister Azwar Anas and Garut's mayor Momon Gandasasmita.

Before investigators started analysis of the black box from the crash site, the Captain of the plane, Fierda Basaria, was the first one to blame as the cause of the accident.

Radar data retrieved from the control tower supported this theory, and concluded that she followed the wrong procedure.

His lawyer ready to sued the manufacturer, as he claimed that they had 'damaged the images of Fierda Basaria' and insisted that their plane was 'rain-proof' and 'thunder-proof'.

Analysis from the crash site proved that Flight 5601 didn't follow its assigned route.

The aircraft then allowed to lowered their altitude to 8,500 feet (2,600 m) when it reached a radius of 25 miles (22 nmi; 40 km) from the landing point.

Shockingly, a technician from Husein Tower revealed that most pilots that fly in the route always did the same as Fierda, and said that they always do this until the accident because nothing ever happened to them.

He stated that the aircraft was equipped with an instrument navigation model EFIS ( Electronics Flight Integrated System) with a large screen in the cockpit.

He stated that while in VFR, most pilots were "having fun" with their job and most likely didn't want to talk with control tower, except if an emergency occurred.

BJ Habibie later answered it with ease and stated that both CN235, either from Indonesia or Spain, have the same performance level.

There was another speculation that actually stated that Fierda's deliberately decreased her speed to 'soften' turbulence that had occurred on Flight 5601.

It was suspected that Flight 5601 was struck by a downdraft which caused her altitude to decreased a few hundred meters.

The surviving propellers from Flight 5601 was evacuated and placed in front of the city hall of Garut, remembering all victims of the tragedy in Mount Puntang.