Smoke prevents plane's landing

PALANGKARAYA, Central Kalimantan: Thick smoke from forest fires prevented a Foker 28 aircraft belonging to Merpati Airlines from landing at the Tjilik Riwut airport yesterday, Antara reported.

The plane, which was coming from Jakarta, changed course and flew to Banjarmasin, an airline spokesman said.

The smoke, which reduced the pilot's visibility to 500 meters, was believed to have come from a fire raging in a forest along an outer road. (09)