The aircraft involved, a Xian MA60, was operating Merpati Nusantara Airlines' scheduled domestic service from Sorong to Kaimana, both in West Papua.

Following its departure from the area's controlled airspace, the crew later contacted Biak and continued their flight to Kaimana.

The crew continued their flight and the aircraft began to descend at 13:25 p.m at a distance of approximately 62 miles (54 nmi; 100 km) from Kaimana.

[12][6] The Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency announced that a total of fifteen bodies have been recovered in the immediate aftermath of the crash,[12][13] with the remainder still trapped inside the wreckage.

[12] Indonesian Navy, local police, airport officials and members of the public were involved in the search for the victims.

A search involving ten Navy divers was initiated to recover additional bodies, though weather conditions and equipment difficulties made the effort unsuccessful.

[14][15] The search eventually had to be temporarily halted due to strong current, which reportedly had shifted the wreckage by 500 meters from its original position.

[18][19][20] On the same day, officials also announced that the bodies of 20 people, including 2 flight attendants, have been recovered from the crash site.

In line with the nation's aviation regulation, each victims would also be provided with at least Rp50 million rupiah from government-owned insurance company Jasa Raharja.

[40] Members of the parliament questioned the Ministry of Transportation following the discovery that the Xian MA60 had not acquired FAA certification.

[41] Deputy speaker of the House, Priyo Budi Santoso, stated that a special probe would be required to investigate the matter.

[49] Hatta Rajasa, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, reiterated the same statement, adding that people should wait for the result of the official investigation.

[32] In announcing the order, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that "[t]here should be a prevention effort and inspection of the same type of Merpati aircraft [...] This [is] important to the public so they can get clear explanation.

It began following the discovery of discrepancy between the requested fund for the purchase of Xian MA60, which was significantly higher than the actual price of the aircraft.

[54] The discovery of the MA60's non-availability of the required FAA certification and the controversial remark from then-Vice President Jusuf Kalla regarding the Chinese-made aircraft caused the allegations to flare up.

There were also speculations that China had pressured the government to keep buying the aircraft by investing in a power plant project in Indonesia.

[61] Meanwhile, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked further clarification from the Ministry of State-owned Enterprise regarding the purchase of Merpati's MA60 fleet, following reports that his staff had been involved in the issue.

[71] The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) opened an investigation into the accident and was assisted with their Chinese counterpart from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) as the state of the manufacturer.

[73] CEO of Merpati Sardjono Jhony stated that the aircraft was airworthy as the maintenance logbook didn't indicate any kind of defects on the Xian MA60.

Indonesian Transport Minister Freddy Numberi stated that the condition in the area might have played a role in the crash.

Another report, which was released an hour after the previous one, stated that the visibility had dropped to three kilometres (1.9 mi; 1.6 nmi) with moderate rain in the area.

According to the transmission that had been sent by the airport controller during the approach, the visibility had deteriorated to two kilometres (1.2 mi; 1.1 nmi) and the rain in the area had intensified.

The CVR readout recorded the "minimum" alert of the aircraft's GPWS inside the cockpit during its approach to Kaimana.

However, the aircraft began to significantly bank to the left and the altitude started to drop rapidly until it crashed onto the water.

Subsequently, the pilots chose the wrong engine mode during the approach, creating a torque value of 70% and 82%, significantly lower than the usual 95% value.

The flight recorder captured Captain Wahyu's call to retract the flaps to 25, which was basically a non-existent configuration in the Xian MA60.

According to the investigation, Captain Wahyu's action was caused by him feeling stressed due to the difficult approach and the eventual decision to go-around.

[6] The finding was that an inadequate training program, combined with the stressful situation that the pilots were encountering during the approach, eventually led to Captain Wahyu's regression to previous habits.

Following the decision to discontinue the approach, the PIC deviated from the standard go-around procedures while the aircraft was in close proximity to the water.

The rapid descent was mainly a result of a combination of situations such as high bank angle (up to 38 deg to the left) and the flaps retracted to 5 and subsequently to 0 position, and also the combination of other situations such as; engine torque, airspeed, and nose-down pitchAs most safety actions had been executed by the involved parties prior to the publishing of the final report, investigators only issued six recommendations.