Crashed plane to fly again

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: The Merpati Nusantara Airlines Fokker-27 that made a rough landing on Tuesday is being repaired and will fly again, an airline official said yesterday.

The aircraft with 25 people on board bound for Maumere made an emergency landing at the El Tari airport after its rear left landing gear unlocked.

The airlines' Kupang district manager Anjar Soetrisno said the plane has had its left landing gear and left wing repaired, Antara reported.

The aircraft was towed into the parking area on Thursday by technicians who brought in the equipment from Denpasar, Bali.

"We cannot determine how long it will take the technicians to repair the aircraft. They are examining the extent of the damage," he said. (pan)