Foreign plane crash-land here

BANDAR LAMPUNG, Lampung: A twin-engine aircraft re-enacting the historical first flight from Britain to Australia crashed landed near here yesterday. There were no casualties.

The Vickers-Vimby aircraft made an emergency landing in a coastal area 70 kilometers northeast of Branti airport, said the director of the Air Force operation and training department, Commodore Tamtomo Adi, as quoted by Antara.

The aircraft left Singapore at 01.00 p.m. for the Jakarta airport of Halim Perdanakusuma. At 03.55 p.m. it began experiencing engine trouble and was forced to land on a beach where it caught fire.

A report received by the Halim airport said that all the crew members, including pilot Peter MacMillan and pilot Lang Kitby, managed to escape without any serious injury.

Other passengers on board included James Stanley, a photographer from National Geographic Magazine, and navigator Dien Nielsen.

The aircraft was trying to retrace the 1919 first-ever flight from England to Australia. According to the original plan it would fly to Sydney, Australia, through Kalijati, West Java, Jakarta and Bima.(tis)