Mishap at Jakarta’s Halim Airport Causes Diversion of Flights to Soekarno-Hatta Airport

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Authorities at Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma Airport has diverted a number of commercial flights to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, after a Trigana Air Boeing 737-500 cargo jet blocked parts of the runway after it slid on the tarmac on Saturday.

No casualties were reported in the incident.

“[The Angkasa Pura II air transportation company] has diverted seven low-cost carrier flights to Soekarno-Hatta Airport,” said Angkasa Pura II Vice President of Corporate Communications Yado Yarismano in a written statement.

Also read: More Families from Indonesia's Victims in Sriwijaya Air Disaster Sues Boeing 

“Five of them are from Batik Air, while the other two are Citilink flights. The process started at 12:30 pm, following coordination with [the aforesaid] stakeholders.”

The public relations manager for the AirNav [Air Navigation] Indonesia, Yohannes Harry Douglas Sirait, reiterated Yado.

“The incident with the Trigana Air Boeing 737-500 jet with the registration number PK-YSF occurred at 10:53 am, as it took off from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport to head to Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi,” he explained.

Sirait added that the flight, which was manned by a couple of pilots, a technician and an FOO [Flight Operations Officer], had to turn back to base at Halim Perdanakusuma after they detected some technical problems.

Also read: Sriwijaya Air Flight From Jakarta to Pontianak Loses Contact Over Jakarta's Thousand Islands

“The [Trigana Air] flight slid towards the right of the runway and blocked it after returning to base. The accident rendered the facility unusable. Angkasa Pura II and Indonesian Air Force personnel at the nearby Halim Airbase sealed off the runway,” he noted

The Trigana Air near disaster is the second aerial mishap involving the Boeing 737-500 jet in the first quarter of 2021, after Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ182 crashed near the Thousand Islands minutes after takeoff at Soekarno Hatta Airport on January 9.

62 passengers and crew died in the disaster, a number of them small children.

(Writers: Sonya Teresa Debora, Ihsanuddin | Editors: Irfan Maullana, Egidius Patnistik)

Sources: 

https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/03/20/20223041/runway-bandara-halim-ditutup-sementara-7-penerbangan-dialihkan-ke-bandara. 

https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/03/20/15174481/pesawat-trigana-air-tergelincir-di-halim-setelah-return-to-base-karena.