A Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-400 passenger jet carrying 134 passengers en route to Jakarta failed to take off after four of its tires burst at Polonia International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, on Wednesday.
No casualties were reported in the incident, but authorities declared the airport closed for six hours from 9:30 a.m. local time.
The airport reopened after airport workers towed the plane, which stopped at the end of the runway, to the apron for repairs.
A number of witnesses said the plane had almost reached the end of the runway but stopped abruptly after the pilot heard a minor blast from the plane's wheels.
A witness, Dedi, who lives near the airport, said he also heard blasts coming from the plane's wheels just as it was about to take off.
He said the blasts were not loud, but the plane came to a sudden halt. A few moments later, Dedi said he watched passengers evacuate and be taken to the departures area.
A passenger, Panda Nababan, who is a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said passengers panicked and became hysterical when the Garuda aircraft stopped at the end of the runway.
"The force of the plane stopping was intense because it was previously moving at full speed," Panda told The Jakarta Post.
Panda said no passengers were injured, but he said some appeared shaken due to the strong impact of the braking.
Panda voiced his concern to the plane's crew, because the pilot failed to provide passengers with information about why the sudden stop occurred.
After complaining, he added, the plane's pilot, Trihatmoko, explained that the plane had abruptly stopped due to a mechanical issue.
"But he did not provide detail about the technical problem.
"We were then informed that we would be transferred to another plane," Panda said.
He added that the evacuation process was carried out 30 minutes after the incident occurred.
A Garuda sales marketing staff in Medan, Yunus, said his company had apologized to passengers about the incident.
Yunus said the cause was being investigated.
"We are unclear about why the incident occurred, especially because it is a new plane," Yunus told the Post.
Polonia airport management confirmed that the cause of the incident was due to a tire fault.
Polonia Airport operation and supervision division chief Robert M. Hutagalung said the plane's four tires burst due to the strong friction of the wheels against the runway when the brake was applied.
"When the brakes were applied, the tires rubbed against the runway, causing the four wheels to puncture," Hutagalung said at the airport.
He added that the accident had forced the airport to temporarily close.
Hutagalung said a number of flights from Jakarta had to be rerouted to Pekanbaru and Batam.
He also said flights from Medan to Jakarta were postponed.
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|