Fri, 24 Jan 2003

Flat tires force Star Air into hard landing: A Boeing 737-200 aircraft operated by Star Air airlines that landed at Soekarno- Hatta airport at 4:45 p.m. on Thursday suffered four of its six flat tires and some jangled nerves as its tires made contact with the runway. Flight 631 departed from Balikpapan. Pilot Hananto had to fight to control the plane before finally coming to a stop. As of 9 p.m. the plane was still on the southern runway of Terminal 1, deterring at least four scheduled flights from landing. A Garuda flight from Medan had been diverted to Palembang and delayed until to 9:06 p.m. from the scheduled 6:40 p.m., said airport information service attendant Atok Nugraha. None of the 117 passengers were hurt in the mishap, according to airlines spokeswoman Nurwulan.--JP