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Navy aircraft skids off taxiway at Hang Nadim
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Skidding off – An Indonesian Navy aircraft skid off the taxiway at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam, Riau Islands, on Friday. The airport was closed for two hours following the incident. (thejakartapost.com/Fadli)
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n Indonesian Navy amphibious aircraft skidded off the taxiway at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam, Riau Islands, on Friday. The front tires of the Cassa 212 Aviocar broke after it slipped into a ditch.
The aircraft was supposed to have transported four of the men accused of May's hijacking of the MV Hai Soon 12 and one witness of the crime, to the Indonesian Navy’s Eastern Fleet (Armatim) headquarters in Surabaya, East Java. Hang Nadim authorities closed the airport for two hours because of security reasons following the incident.
Navy base commander Commodore S. Irawan said the patrol aircraft skidded off the taxiway when it landed at Hang Nadim Airport at 7:15 a.m. local time on Friday.
“The detainees were not yet on board when the incident occurred,” he said, adding that the aircraft also planned to refuel at the Batam airport.
Irawan said there was no fatalities in the incident. Three passengers from the Navy’s intelligence division and six crew members, including the pilot and co-pilot, were all safe.
“The detainees who were to have been transferred to Surabaya were all Indonesians. They weren’t Chinese,” he said, referring to a widespread rumor that said the piracy had been committed by Chinese nationals.
The head of Hang Nadim’s commercial division, Dendi Gustinandar, said the airport was closed until 9:30 a.m., forcing several airlines such as Citilink, Lion Air and Garuda to delay their flights.
“Several aircraft departing for Batam were forced to return to base because of the airport’s closure. This was for the sake of aviation safety,” said Dendi. The airport has yet to release a report on the exact number of flights affected by the closure. (ebf)
