Garuda Indonesia Plane Skids Off Runway on Lombok
Jakarta. A Garuda Indonesia passenger plane skidded off the runway as it landed at Lombok's main airport on Tuesday, a company spokesman said, just weeks after the deadly crash of an AirAsia jet in the archipelago.
None of the 33 people on board were hurt when the turboprop belonging to national flag carrier Garuda slid about 10 meters off the runway into the grass at Lombok International Airport, said Ikhsan Rosan.
The ATR 72-600 plane was arriving at Lombok, which is fast becoming a popular holiday destination, from the neighboring Bali, when the accident happened on Tuesday evening.
"All the people on board — 29 passengers including a baby, and four crew members — are safe and unhurt,"Ikhsan said.
Everyone on the plane was able to disembark using the normal stairs, he said. News website Detik reported that the airport was closed after the accident but reopened for smaller aircraft on Wednesday.
It was the latest accident to hit the aviation sector in Indonesia, adding to concerns that safety standards are failing to keep pace as the archipelago's skies become increasingly crowded.
An AirAsia plane crashed into the Java Sea on Dec. 28 during what was supposed to be a short flight from Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people on board.
Agence France-Presse
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