Source: Xinhua Author: 12/13/2009
Subject Concerned: Government Aircrew Airlines Plane Crash Airport
On Dec. 13, a Boeing 737-400 plane operated by Indonesian budget airline, Lion Air, skidded off the runway when it landed in Pekanbaru airport, Sumatra, local media reported.
The report said that the plane's gear passed off the runway and ended up at the tip of the airport's runway at around 15:00 local time.
It made passengers panic and disrupted flights in and out the Pekanbaru airport for hours. Many planes delayed their flight schedules. It took one hour to evacuate 165 passengers from the plane, the report said.
"We ban the pilot, M. Novan, from continuing his flight duty on Dec. 13 and order Lion Air to undertake internal audit on the plane, aborted all of the plane's flight schedule until we have received the report on the audit result," Transportation Ministry Spokesperson Bambang Ervan was quoted by the Detik.com as saying.
Plane landing mishaps were frequently reported recently. Earlier this month, a Fokker 100 plane operated by Merpati Nusantara Airlines landed with incomplete landing gear at an airport in East Nusantenggara province, which disrupted all flights at the airport.