Two Airplane Accidents in One Day (Indonesia)

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Two airplanes experienced accidents, in Makassar and Surabaya in less than three hours yesterday. Although there were no victims, the National Flight Safety Commission (KNKT) considered the two incidents as serious.

The first accident happened at the Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, Makassar to a Boeing 737-400 owned by Merpati. The plane, flying from Jakarta to Timika, Papua failed to take off at 10.40 Central Indonesia Time when one of its wheels burst. “The plane could not take off due to a flat tire,” said Merpati General Corporate Manager Purwatmo. The ZA-762 flight carrying 15 passengers and five crew to Papua had to be cancelled.

Hardi, 40, a resident in Padang Sesere, Maros regency who witnessed the accident said, “The plane was leaning to one side when it tried to take off.”
Around 14.02 Western Indonesia Time, a similar incident happened to a Wings Air plane flight number IW-8978 at Juanda Airport in Surabaya. One of its left wheels fell off seconds before landing on the runway.
Wings Air spokespman Edward Sirait said the wheel fell off when the MD-82 plane was decelerating. “There were no indications of damage before landing,” he said.
A witness said the wheel spun out of the runway. Jati, Juanda Airport Duty Manager said air traffic was disrupted for about ten minutes due to the incident.
KNKT spokesman J.A. Barata said his commission has categorized these two accidents as serious incidents. “We have sent an investigation team to look into the causes of the accidents,” he said.

Since July 2007, the European Union has banned Indonesia airplanes from fly over Europe. The ban is evaluated every three months and has never been withdrawn since. Last July, the EU said that the ban was extended because according to their assessment, regulators in Indonesia have not been inspecting the flights to the maximum.

http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2008/10/21/brk,20081021-141356,uk.html