Smoke prevents plane's landing

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)