JAL jumbo jet engine breaks up in midnight flight
JAKARTA (JP): A Japan Airlines (JAL) jumbo jet, with 366 passengers and 17 crew aboard, abandoned its midnight flight to Tokyo on Tuesday after experiencing engine trouble just after takeoff from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, a JAL official at the airline's Jakarta office said on Wednesday.
Hideki Moriyama, the administration manager of the office, said no one on board was injured and JAL Flight 726 landed safely at the airport about an hour after it took off at 11:37 p.m.
The four-engined Boeing 747 encountered "engine trouble" in its number one engine, he told The Jakarta Post.
"After discovering the trouble in the number one engine, the captain disposed of a necessary amount of fuel and landed the plane safely at Cengkareng at 12:30 a.m.," Moriyama said.
He said he had no idea of the cause of the incident and that an investigation was being carried out which included related parties at the airport.
All of the passengers, Moriyama said, were transferred to the Jakarta Hilton and Hotel Mulia and were scheduled to leave on Wednesday night for Narita airport on an extra plane especially flown in from Tokyo.
"They're scheduled to depart at 10:30 tonight (Wednesday)," he said.
From Tokyo, AFP quoted a Japanese transport ministry official as saying that passengers heard "a bang" when the number one engine on the left wing disintegrated at a height of 1,000 feet. Some engine parts fell off, the official, who refused to be named, said.
A reporter from the Post, who traced the trail of the flight's fallen engine parts, found the debris had damaged at least 16 houses in three villages of Sepatan district of Tangerang regency, namely Kedaung Barat, Tanah Merah and Jatimulya.
The closest village, Jatimulya, is about three kilometers from the airport's runways.
Many locals, who were sleeping or going to bed, supported the statement by the Tokyo ministry official, saying they heard a thunderous bang from a plane flying low over their houses.
"I was about to go to bed when a disturbing sound of a plane flying too low followed by the thundering sound of an explosion shocked me," said Udin, 38, a resident of Jatimulya.
According to Udin and his neighbors, they also witnessed a "big thing with a flame" falling from the plane.
After it hit the ground, the residents poured water on the object before handing it over to the local police, they said.
Most of the 16 damaged houses had small cracks in their roofs, the most serious of was on a house belonging to Buang, 40, of Jatimulya.
"I was sleeping when suddenly a big machine fell from the roof of our house onto our bed. My wife fainted," he said.
Moriyama said he was unaware of whether JAL would pay any sort of compensation to the villagers for the damage.
"We don't know yet. As far as I know, we have not received any claims. At this time, we are concentrating on accommodating the passengers," he said.
JAL serves the Denpasar-Jakarta-Tokyo route daily. The extra flight for the 366 passengers on Wednesday night will not affect the regular flight, which usually departs at 11:30 p.m.
"Flight 726, from Denpasar (Bali), landed at 10:20 p.m. at the (Soekarno-Hatta) airport on Tuesday. It is scheduled for takeoff at 11:30 p.m.," Moriyama explained. (41/bsr)