Batavia aircraft makes emergency landing

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A Batavia Air Boeing 737-200 aircraft made an unscheduled landing at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang en route to Batam on Thursday, but all 113 people on board were unharmed, Antara reported.

The incident comes just four days after another Boeing 737-200 belonging to Mandala Airlines slammed into a crowded residential area in Medan, and two days after a Garuda Indonesia and another Mandala plane aborted landings in Riau and Jakarta respectively.

The Batavia Air representative in Palembang, Venny Pontoh, said the plane landed in Palembang at 11 a.m. for minor repairs to its air-conditioning system.

"For the sake of passenger comfort, the pilot decided to make a stop in Palembang," Venny said, denying that the unscheduled landing had been precipitated by an emergency.

The flight was a direct Jakarta to Batam service.

Batavia Air sent a replacement plane to fly all but one of the passengers to Batam a couple of hours later.

The one passenger left behind refused to continue the flight, saying he was frightened by the plane crash in Medan, which killed over 140 people on board the doomed aircraft and on the ground.

"The flight attendants announced the unscheduled landing, but did not say why," the passenger, who identified himself as Agus, told reporters.

After repairs were effected, the plane flew back to Jakarta, carrying passengers bound for the capital.

A member of the House of Representatives conveyed the news of the unscheduled landing to Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa during a hearing in Jakarta.