Plane's engines failed at 20,000 feet: Pilot<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The pilot of the ill-fated Garuda Boeing 737-300, Abdul Rozak,
\nwhich made an emergency landing on Bengawan Solo River in Klaten,
\nCentral Java, on Jan. 16, revealed on Thursday that the plane's
\ntwo engines had broken down at 20,000 feet.<\/p>\n
Being aware of engine trouble, he held a short discussion with
\ncopilot Heryadi Gunawan and then made an emergency landing, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
According to him, he contacted the control tower at Achmad
\nYani Airport in Semarang, Central Java, before the plane's
\nengines got into trouble.<\/p>\n
\"It was my last contact. Afterwards, there was no more
\ncommunication because the plane's twin engines cut out,\" he said,
\nas quoted by detik.com.<\/p>\n
Rozak made the acknowledgement to journalists at Garuda
\nIndonesia's headquarters on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan.<\/p>\n
The airplane, with 54 passengers and crew members onboard,
\nmade the emergency landing on a flight from Mataram, West Nusa
\nTenggara, to Yogyakarta in Central Java. Stewardess Santi
\nAnggraeni, who leapt minutes before the plane touched the river,
\nwas later found dead.<\/p>\n
The aircraft's black box, which was found recently, has been
\nsent to Australia to investigate what caused the engines to fail.<\/p>\n
Rozak added that the weather was quite bad during the flight
\nand that the plane was hit by strong winds.<\/p>\n
When the plane emerged from a thick cloud, he said, he saw a
\nlarge paddy field. \"My copilot suggested that we make an
\nemergency landing on land but I feared that might increase the
\nnumber of victims, so I decided to make an emergency landing on
\nthe river,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The only thing that crossed my mind was that I must salvage
\nthe passengers, crew members and finally me. I prayed to God,
\nafter circling once above the river,\" he recalled.<\/p>\n
Rozak said that soon after the emergency landing, he opened
\ncabin doors and \"ordered all passengers and other crew members to
\nexit,\" said the 45-year-old pilot.<\/p>\n
To show his responsibility, Rozak added that he stayed onboard
\nthe ill-fated airplane.<\/p>\n
\"I could not leave the aircraft because I was worried about
\nwhether there were any victims left onboard the aircraft. I
\nstayed inside until rescuers took me out,\" he admitted.<\/p>\n
Asked whether he would pilot other airplanes after the
\nincident, Rozak said, \"I want to fly again before the completion
\nof the accident investigation\".<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/planes-engines-failed-at-20000-feet-pilot-1447893297",
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