Lady fails to follow Medan boys

JAKARTA (JP): If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then two boys who stowed away in the front wheel compartment of an airplane were given the highest honor when a woman attempted the same feat in Bali yesterday.

Nina Rustini, 40, was caught hiding in the main wheel well compartment of a Garuda Indonesia A-330-300 airplane, flight GA- 669, which was parked at Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar, Bali.

The flight was to fly to Jakarta later in the day.

She was discovered when a Garuda technician, Indratno, was checking the airplane at 5 a.m.

After being handed over to airport security, Nina admitted that she had planned to stow away on the plane.

Being caught may have been a blessing in disguise for Nina as she later said that she wanted to go to Yogyakarta.

The plane was not scheduled to land in Yogyakarta, which is located approximately midway between Jakarta and Bali.

After additional checks, the GA-669 flight carrying 152 passengers finally got off the ground, free of stowaways, but 25 minutes late.

On Tuesday two boys -- Iswadi Simpatupang, 17, and Manto Manurung, 16 -- were found unconscious here at Soekarno-Hatta Airport after stowing away on a Garuda Indonesia flight from Medan, North Sumatra.

The two boys hid in the front wheel compartment of the aircraft for the three-and-a-half hour flight. Despite minor shock, the two boys are reportedly in good health. (icn/mds)