Batavia aircraft loses wing section

[speedrestriction]

Reports on news channel about a Batavia aircraft losing a 6' section of wing. No injuries on ground, aircraft landed without incident. Can't find anything on the web about it yet.

sr

[Return to base]

Reports from todays Jakarta Post:

http://www.thejakartapost.com/headlines.asp

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Airplane lands safely after part of wing breaks away
JAKARTA (JP): A Batavia Air aircraft was forced to return to the airport in Jakarta on Thursday after a 2-meter-long piece of its wing broke away minutes after takeoff.
There were no reports of injuries in the incident.
Batavia Air spokesman Anton Situmeang said an investigation into the incident would be conducted as the plane had just undergone a full service one or two months ago. (***)

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Pieces of plane's wing found in Sepatan
TANGERANG, Banten (JP): Residents of Gempol Sari village in East Sepatan district, Tangerang regency claimed Thursday to have found pieces of an airplane wing that fell from an aircraft.
The largest piece of the falling objects was said to hit the roof of a local resident's house on Wednesday evening, causing a little damage to house.
"I and my family were watching TV when we heard noisy sound of a falling object. Luckily, it did not hit us," Aat Supiadi, one of the locals said.
He said five other pieces of similar objects, measuring almost two meters by 40 centimeters were also found by other residents in several rice fields not far from his house.
Aat and his neighbors then reported and handed down the pieces of the fiber objects to the Sepatan police station, which later sent the objects to the airport police headquarters for investigation.




rtb

[cwatters]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22805424-23109,00.html

A CHUNK of wing dropped off an Indonesian passenger plane carrying 144 people minutes after take-off, forcing the aircraft to return to the capital, an airline official said today.

Yesterday's incident at Jakarta airport renewed concerns about the safety of flying in Indonesia following two major air accidents this year.

The Boeing 737-400 operated by Batavia Air landed safely and none of 138 passengers and six crew members were hurt, said Anton Situmeang, a spokesman for the airline.

Mr Situmeang said the plane, which was due to fly to Pontianak on Borneo island, could have continued its journey safely without the part, which measured 40cm by 50cm.

"But the pilot decided to return to the airport. It was a standard procedure," he said.

Frans Wenas, senior investigator at Indonesia's National Transport Safety Committee, said the broken piece landed near the airport.

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So was it forced to return or could it continue safely? Article says both :hmm:

[PK-KAR]

Yes, another funny episode in Indonesian aviation.

1st we heard it was an A319 loosing a flap section and had to RTB.
Then we heard it was a 737 loosing a part of the skin and had to RTB.
Then the airline said the 737 returned not due to missing a skin section but due to to a hydraulic problem.
Then the airline denied the piece found on the ground was theirs.
Then the airport put the piece against the plane and found that it fits perfectly, so therefore they announced that info.
Then the airline said, "it's not that big, only 50x40cm"...
Last that I heard the airport said, "it is BIGGER than 50x40cm..."
*yawn*

Aircraft involved was PK-YTP.
There are conflicting reports on whether it could have proceeded to PNK or had to return to CGK.
On another report it was said the pilot decided to return to base due to realizing the aircraft "didn't handle like it was supposed to."

I'm surprised the flight crew realized the problem, I would have thought they wouldn't notice since they've been flying "one-two-go style"... ie: report 100hrs, scheduled for 110hrs block, actual... 150hrs... a month. Let's not start counting their duty hours! Oh yeah, and the pay's total cr4p... I hear 12Go pay is higher *shakes head*

Interestingly Batavia just sacked its 732 chief a month or two ago (or he resigned) over realizing he was giving simulator access to an unauthorized person (who is rumoured to be wanted by security in other airlines).

And Batavia is currently suing ATR and EADS to get their deposits back on purchasing ATRs... which they said "upon seeing the aircraft for ourselves, didn't live up to what it said in the brochure."... This, and the airline still expects Airbus to deliver more planes to them...

And just yesterday, the airline complained about photos on the internet of the cockpit of one if its A319s. Citing "the aircraft owner isn't happy that these photos were on the net and contained confidential information." *bangs head on table*... is the aircraft registration and its sel-cal code confidential?

PK-KAR