The Jakarta Post | Sat, 01/03/2009 8:46 PM
A Lion Air aircraft suffered a front wheel malfunction after making a turn at the Jalaluddin Gorontalo Airport on Saturday causing a sudden drop of the head of the plane and punctured a 50 centimeters deep hole in the runway.
Airport spokesperson Agus Sugeng told Antara newswire that the front wheel had made a sudden 90 degrees horizontal spin while the plane was making a turn on the newly asphalted runway.
As the wheel could no longer hold the plane, the head of the plane together with the wheel sustainer dropped and punctured the soft runway, he said.
Agus said that the incident was caused by the state of the runway. He said that the runway was asphalted by the end of December and that it needed more time to reach a more solid state.
"Maybe the pilot had forgotten that the runway was not solid enough. He should have been more careful. Thank god nobody was injured," he said.
Lion Air district manager Djon said that the incident had nothing to do with the plane's condition.
"The plane was in a perfect condition. The incident was purely caused by the condition of the runway," he said.
After thorough mechanical repair, the aircraft was able to fly again from the airport to Makassar and Jakarta. (and)
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