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Short circuit possible cause of airport fire

Standstill: Hundreds of passengers gather at Terminal 2 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten , on Sunday

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Mon, July 6, 2015

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Short circuit possible cause of airport fire

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span class="inline inline-center">Standstill: Hundreds of passengers gather at Terminal 2 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten , on Sunday. Due to a fire at the JW Sky Lounge, activities at Terminal 2 were disrupted on Sunday. The fire was quickly extinguished and there were no reports of any injuries in the incident. JP/Awo

A fire broke out in a VIP lounge at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport'€™s Terminal 2E in Cengkareng, Banten, early on Sunday morning, causing disruption to departures and arrivals.

Airport Police said the fire began at the JW Sky Lounge located behind the check-in hall at around 6 a.m. The fire was brought under control at around 7:30 a.m by a fire-fighting team from state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa
Pura II.

'€œFor the time being, we suspect that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit that occurred in the lounge. However, it is still under investigation,'€ Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Police chief Sr. Comr. CH Pattopoi said on Sunday, adding that he had coordinated with the National Police Forensic Laboratory to investigate the cause
of the fire.

He said the fire was concentrated only in one spot and did not spread to other areas. '€œIt only caused smoke problems,'€ Pattopoi said.

Taufiq, a passenger on national carrier Garuda Indonesia who was scheduled to depart for Surabaya, East Java, at 6 p.m., said he had yet to receive any clear information from airport officials regarding his flight schedule.

'€œI am afraid that I might not be able to check in. I don'€™t want my flight to be delayed until tomorrow,'€ he said.

Angkasa Pura II corporate secretary and legal division head Agus Hariadi said that as of 10:10 a.m., the fire at the country'€™s main gateway had led to 30-minute delays on 27 Garuda flights.

He said the management of Garuda had moved the check-in process for domestic passengers from Terminal 2E to Terminal 2F. Meanwhile, international passengers were shifted to Terminal 2D.

The check-in process was conducted manually, with counters operating again at 8:45 a.m., Agus added.

As such, he said, Garuda flights to Batam in Riau Islands, Semarang in Central Java, Palembang in South Sumatra, Pekanbaru in Riau, Pontianak in West Kalimantan, Makassar in South Sulawesi and Yogyakarta, which had been delayed could now depart.

Meanwhile, Garuda Indonesia president director Arief Wibowo said the delays that had occurred since Sunday morning would affect flight schedules until Monday morning.

'€œWe will focus our service on passengers facing delays,'€ Arief said.

He said that as of 7 p.m. on Sunday, his company had managed to get 40 flights off and was still trying to operate 40 flights to a number of destinations.

In order to speed up the service, he said Garuda Indonesia would operate a wide-body plane, a Boeing 747-700, which could carry hundreds of passengers from several medium-sized planes at once.

'€œWe will prioritize the big plane to serve busy routes such as Surabaya and Denpasar [in Bali],'€ he said.

Agus of Angkasa Pura II said there would be no compensation for passengers who experienced delays on Sunday because damaged airport facilities exempted the carriers from the obligation to pay compensation to passengers.

However, Angkasa Pura II would scrap the airport taxes and service charges of all passengers at the airport, including those who were not affected by the fire.

'€œWhat has happened is an accident. That is why all fees, outside those of the carriers, have been waived for passengers departing today. We apologize for any inconvenience,'€ Agus said. (alm)

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