(Lion Grup via tribunnews.com)

A Batik Air plane skidded upon landing in the wet at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta at 3:05 p.m. on Friday, leading to the temporary shutdown of the airport.

According to Marsudi Wahyu Kisworo, a passenger on the Jakarta-Yogyakarta flight, the runway was wet and slippery due to heavy rain as the plane landed.

'€œAlhamdulillah [thank God] no one was injured,'€ Marsudi told thejakartapost.com

At first, he said, the landing seemed normal. However, soon he realized that the plane'€™s brakes seemed not to be working normally because the aircraft kept sliding along the runway without any hint of slowing.

In order to avoid a bridge located not too far beyond the runway, the pilot managed to turn the plane to the left before making an abrupt stop on a grassed area.

The plane'€™s front landing gear was broken and the nose section of the plane had sunk into the grass. However, nobody was injured, according to Marsudi, who was seated in business class next to a window.

'€œThe pilot was quick-witted indeed. If he did not turn our course to the left, the flight would have hit the bridge and sunk into the river, just like Garuda in the past,'€ Marsudi said.

The flight was piloted by Captain Oscar Mirza and co-piloted by Dana Aviantara. It was carrying five cabin crew members and 160 passengers.

Lion Group public relations manager Andy M. Saladin confirmed that nobody had been injured and that the plane had been safely evacuated. The plane itself, with identification number 6380, is still in the process of being recovered from the grassy area.

Meanwhile, the accident has caused several flights to be diverted and Adisucipto airport has been closed temporarily. (dan)(+)

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