Plane skids, halts traffic at Juanda

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.