Garuda, Mandala abort their flights

Garuda, Mandala abort their flights

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A Garuda Indonesia airliner flying from North Sumatra's capital
of Medan made an emergency landing on Tuesday morning at Sultan
Syarif Kasim II Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau, due to a fuel
indicator problem.

In another incident on Tuesday, a Mandala aircraft returned to
Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta after only 10 minutes in the
air due to glitches with landing gear warning lamps.

There were no casualties in either of the incidents, which
came just a day after a Mandala aircraft crashed into a dense
residential area in Medan, killing 150 people on board and on the
ground.

All 82 passengers of the Garuda Boeing 737-400 airplane were
immediately transferred to other flights.

"Captain Toni Bagus saw that the plane's fuel indicator was
faulty, and immediately landed at a nearby airport, which is in
line with flight safety procedures," Garuda Indonesia
spokesperson Pudjobroto was quoted as saying by Antara.

Among the fortunate passengers were Minister of Social Affairs
Bachtiar Chamsyah and five members of the House of
Representatives Commission V on transportation,
telecommunications and public works.

They were flying from Medan after making a visit of condolence
for North Sumatra governor Tengku Rizal Nurdin, who was killed in
the Mandala crash on Monday.

"There was only a problem with the fuel indicator. Our
procedures rule that pilots should immediately land at a nearby
airstrip if something suspicious occurs," he said.

Brushing off maintenance problems, Pudjobroto said the plane
could still fly for many years to come. The plane was immediately
repaired after landing.

Passengers, however, recalled a more frightening situation
aboard the plane when the pilots told them that the plane's right
engine had broken down.

Social ministry's director general of social assistance Amrun
Daulay, who was accompanying Minister Bachtiar, said light
turbulence occurred some 40 minutes after take-off.

"We were told by the pilots that there had been damage to the
right engine and were told to remain calm. The pilots tried to
fly manually, but later decided to land at a nearby airport," he
was quoted as saying by detikcom.

The relatively minor incident was especially frightening for
passengers following Monday's crash of the Mandala aircraft due
to a total engine shutdown on takeoff at Polonia Airport in
Medan.

In Jakarta, Mandala officials said the pilot of the Boeing
737-200 bound for Jambi made a U-turn because its landing gear
lamps did not go off after takeoff.

"The lamps should have gone off when the plane was already
flying. But they didn't," Mandala spokesperson Alex Widjojo
explained.

The pilot of the plane decided to return to Jakarta to prevent
any further problems and ensure the safety of passengers, Alex
added. The plane is of the same type as the aircraft that crashed
in Medan on Monday.