Lombok International Airport starts operations

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Sat, 10/01/2011

Premier landing: A Garuda Indonesia airplane carrying West Nusa
 Tenggara Governor Zainul Majdi and his entourage from Jakarta lands
at Lombok International Airport on Saturday. The plane was the first
 commercial aircraft landing at the new airport, officiated on Saturday.
(Antara/Ahmad Subaidi)

The West Nusa Tenggara administration officially opened, on Saturday, Lombok International Airport in a move to boost tourism in Lombok, an island next to Bali which is becoming popular among both local and foreign tourists.

The new airport is located in Pujut district in Central Lombok regency, about 40 kilometers to the south of Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara.

It is managed by state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I, and replaces the old Selaparang Airport, which had been the main portal for entering Lombok.

A Boeing 737-800 JR airplane operated by national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia was the first commercial aircraft to land at the new airport, carrying West Nusa Tenggara Governor Zainul Majdi and his entourage, as well as Transportation Ministry director general for air transport Harry Bhakti, from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Antara reported.

3 Killed in Philippine Military Helicopter Crash

Jakarta Globe, October 01, 2011

Manila. The Philippine military says three air force personnel were killed when a helicopter carrying supplies to troops fighting militants on a southern island crashed after its engine failed.

Regional military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang says the Vietnam War-vintage UH-1H Huey helicopter lost engine power as it approached a military camp in Patikul township on Jolo island Saturday.

The helicopter hit the ground hard and rolled down a hill.

Three crew members were killed and the fourth was injured.

The Huey is the Philippine air force's workhorse and is used extensively in troop deployment, resupply and disaster operations. The troops are battling the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which is on Washington's terrorist list.

Associated Press

Plane hits Ferris wheel north of Sydney, trapping four

BBC News, 1 October 2011 

No-one was seriously injured in
the incident, officials say

A light plane has crashed into a Ferris wheel in a village north of Sydney, trapping four people, Australian officials say.

The Cheetah S200 plane with two men aboard did not topple the wheel after hitting it during a festival in the village of Old Bar.

The men and two children at the top of the wheel were trapped for hours before being rescued by a crane.

There were no serious injuries in Saturday's incident, the officials say.