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Plane lands after wing breaks
22/11/2007 10:15 - (SA)
Jakarta - A two metre-long piece of wing broke away from a jetliner minutes after it took off from Indonesia's main international airport, but the plane managed to land safely, an airport official said on Thursday.
The incident late on Wednesday adds to concerns about the safety of flying in Indonesia, which suffered a series of accidents earlier this year that killed more than 120 people.
The wing section measuring about 2m by 1 1/2m fell from the Boeing 737 shortly after it left Jakarta's Sukarno-Hatta airport on a domestic flight, said Totok Suwarto, a senior official there.
Suwarto said the plane was operated by Batavia Airways, one of scores of cheap airlines to appear in Indonesia in recent years. A Batavia spokesman declined to comment.
Suwarto said the plane returned to Sukarno-Hatta without incident.
The Detik.Com news Website said the wing piece hit a house not far from the airport, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
The cause of the accident was being investigated, Suwarto said.
As a result of the accidents earlier this year, the European Union blacklisted all of Indonesia's airlines and the US Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the nation's rating to its lowest category.
Experts say the industry is plagued by poor maintenance, rule-bending and a shortage of trained professionals.
- AP
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