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Part of wing found on runway
05/12/2007 10:47 - (SA)
Jakarta - A three-metre piece of wing from a jet aircraft has been found on a runway at the Indonesian capital's main airport and investigators are trying
to trace the plane it originated from, officials said on
Wednesday.
No airline operator had reported the part missing since its
discovery on Tuesday on a runway serving Jakarta's domestic
terminal, said Wahyu Supriantono, chairperson of the Indonesian
Aircraft Technicians Association.
"From the serial number printed on the piece, we know that
it is a part of the wing but we cannot trace the owner of the
plane with the number," Supriantono told Reuters, adding that
it was unclear whether it came from a passenger or cargo plane.
Frans Wenas, senior investigator at Indonesia's National
Transport Safety committee, confirmed the find and said that
officials were investigating the origin of the part.
Safety concerns
Two weeks ago, a chunk of wing dropped off an Indonesian
passenger plane carrying 144 people minutes after take-off from
Jakarta, forcing the pilot to turn back.
Although the plane operated by Batavia Air landed safely,
the incident sparked fresh concerns about the safety of flying
in Indonesia following two major air accidents this year.
The part of that aircraft was later found near the airport
and Supriantono said on Wednesday that six engineers had been
suspended over the incident.
In January, an Adam Air jet with 102 people on board
plunged into the sea off Sulawesi island. Another plane
accident claimed 21 lives when a Garuda passenger jet crashed
while landing in Yogyakarta in March.
Air travel in Indonesia, a country of more than 17 000
islands, has surged since liberalisation of the industry in the
late 1990s but this has triggered concerns that safety has been
compromised.
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