Plane skids, halts traffic at Juanda
ID Nugroho and Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya/Surakarta
An Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel carrier skidded off the runway while landing at Juanda Airport here on Monday, causing several departing and incoming flights to be delayed by up to 1.5 hours.
The skidding plane hit a number of navigation lamps and debris littered the runway.
Bambang Utomo, the head of the operator of the airport, PT Angkasa Pura 1, said the Boeing 707 plane was scheduled to touch down at 7:38 a.m. to pick up soldiers and fly them back to Jakarta following the TNI's 58th anniversary celebration on Sunday.
There were no reports of casualties or injuries in the accident.
An engine problem may have caused the accident, TNI officers said, adding that an investigation was being conducted.
A number of commercial flights leaving or arriving at the airport were delayed following the accident to allow for the runway to be cleared of debris, which was completed at about 9 a.m.
The delay affected an Air Force Hercules carrying Jakarta- based journalists, which eventually failed to take off anyway because of engine problems, and a Fokker F-28 carrying the TNI chief of general affairs, Lt. Gen. Djamari Chaniago, and TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin. The two were traveling to Bali to inspect the final security preparations for the ASEAN summit there.
Merpati and Mandala commercial planes departing for the Bali capital of Denpasar were also affected, as was a Lion Air flight leaving for Jakarta. A Garuda flight heading to Juanda Airport was forced to land at Ahmad Yani Airport in Semarang due to the accident.
Flights to and from Juanda Airport returned to normal about 1.5 hours after the accident.
"We immediately cleaned up the debris from the runway after the accident and by 9 a.m. the airport was reopened," Bambang said.
Also on Monday, a Garuda plane was forced to make an emergency landing at the Adi Sumarmo Airport in the Central Java city of Surakarta because of engine trouble, stranding at least 107 passengers at the airport.
"The plane is being looked at by Garuda technicians for engine trouble," said Rahadian Dewanto Yogisworo, an official at the airport's Angkasa Pura II.
He said the ill-fated plane GA-320, traveling from Jakarta, was scheduled to land at Juanda. It was rerouted to Adi Sumarmo after the accident in Surabaya, he said.
But the plane suddenly developed engine trouble, forcing it to make an emergency landing.