On 10 June 2013, the Xian MA60 twin turboprop operating the route crashed on the runway while landing at Kupang's El Tari Airport, injuring 25 occupants, five seriously.

Investigation by the National Transportation Safety Committee, assisted by Chinese Civil Aviation Administration of China, concluded that the flight crew's mismanagement of the engine controls led to a loss of propeller thrust and lift shortly before touchdown, resulting in a hard landing far in excess of the airframe's structural limits.

El Tari Airport then obtained visual contact with Flight 6517 and issued a landing clearance.

At 09.51 a.m, the crew reported that their position was on final and the El Tari Tower re-issued the landing clearance.

After the aircraft stopped, the flight attendants assessed the situation and decided to evacuate the passengers through the rear main entrance door.

Several injured passengers suffered shock from the crash and was taken into El Tari's VVIP Lounge.

The aircraft involved in the crash was a Xian MA60 registered in Indonesia as PK-MZO with a serial number of MSN 608.

Captain Aditya was qualified as route instructor and has been performed approximately 218 instructing flight hours.

[21] Transportation Ministry stated that Merpati Nusantara Airlines would face a "special audit" in response to the crash.

[26][27] Most survivors stated that before the plane touched the runway, the aircraft "swayed and shook" for several times.

The CVR was downloaded at NTSC facility on 12 June 2013 and contained 120 minutes of good quality recording.

Based on simulator test conducted by the NTSC, if the engine entered this condition, the aircraft would lose lift and eventually descended rapidly.

In May 2008, the board of instructors had agreed to revise the Normal Checklist that the Power Lock system selects to "OPEN" before landing.

First Officer Vunpin have some experiences of delay on moving the power lever to Ground Idle during landing.

On the accident flight, he turned to previous experience and lifted the mechanical power lever stop slots during approach.

He realized that he retarded the Power Lever backward at about 70 ft of aircraft altitude and unintentionally entered the Beta Range.

Interviews with First Officer Vunpin revealed that he had some experiences of delay on moving the power lever to Ground Idle during landing.