Merpati airplane has a flat, delays flights in Makassar

A Merpati Boeing 737-300 airplane suffered a flat tire on landing and blocked the runway of Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi, delaying at least two flights on Monday morning.

One of the plane's tires burst on landing at the airport early on Monday morning, 1:54 a.m. local time. The plane was on a stopover from Surabaya to Jayapura. All of its 102 passengers and six crew members are safe. They are now awaiting a substitute plane to take them to Jayapura.

Kintoron, the airport's official for data and information systems, confirmed the accident.

“As of 7 a.m. two flights had been delayed as we finished evacuating the plane and cleaning up the runway,” Kintoron said.

The delayed flights were supposed to fly to Jakarta at 6:10 a.m. and at 7 a.m.