Mandala jet skids off Indonesia runway

[Pieter C. 5]

October 3, 2006

A passenger jet skidded off the runway upon landing in thick haze in Indonesia on Tuesday as forest fires in the country spread a pall of smoke around the region.

 

A Boeing 737-200 jet skidded 50 metres off the runway in the town of Tarakan in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province on Borneo island.

 

"The visibility for the pilot was clouded by the haze," an airport official said, adding all 110 passengers of the Mandala airline plane survived the incident without major injuries.

 

The haze, caused mostly by farmers and plantation owners setting fires to clear land, has forced many flights to be delayed or cancelled in Indonesia in recent days, with five cancellations in the Sumatra island province of Jambi on Tuesday.

 

"The visibility is 500 metres," said Olan Simanjuntak, a spokesman for Sultan Thaha airport in Jambi. "We are very irritated (by the haze). Officials here are using masks."

 

Purwasto, a senior official in Indonesia's Environment Ministry, said that the PSI reading was "more than 100" in the worst-hit parts of the country.

 

"It is dangerous for human health," said Purwasto, who like many Indonesians uses one name.

 

Each year, uncontrolled slash-and-burn practices by farmers, plantation owners and loggers on the Indonesian islands send a smoky haze to Singapore, Malaysia and southern Thailand.

 

The NEA said satellite pictures showed 97 hotspots and dense smoke haze in Sumatra, a large Indonesian island west of Singapore.

 

The haze has also begun to envelop Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, obscuring hills surrounding the city. But residents said it was nowhere near as bad as last year's choking smog.

 

The Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah on Borneo were the worst affected on Tuesday. In one area of Sarawak, which has been blanketed by heavy smog for weeks, the air-pollution index approached "very unhealthy" levels at the daily 0300 GMT reading.

 

Local media said authorities plan to seed clouds over Sarawak in an effort to clear the haze, but have not said when the operations will begin.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Ewan Shamsudin 0]

Yeaa Pieter. Despite heavy rain last night, the blanket of haze is still here... cough...cough..cough.....

 

[Tamizi Hj Tamby 1]

Yeaa Pieter. Despite heavy rain last night, the blanket of haze is still here... cough...cough..cough.....

 

My god,it was lucky to have heavy rain.Here in Kuching,it was rainless for days,and the haze is began to get more worst!

 

Luckily it was skidded 50 metres off the runway....Thank god for that!

[Azuddin 1]

that was bad haze in Indo, Malacca is bad also.

 

 

we were told that even batu berendam runway has low visibility. most MFA and KB4B flight club has to cancel most flight training until further notice.

[Delwin A 0]

A/c rego is PK-RIE. Apparently it was written off due to this incident. Luckily everyone survives

[Rozhan 0]

I recall an Airbus plane that crashed at Medan some years ago, partly attributed to the haze. I guess the lesson from the crash has not been learnt. And the haze continues to be a perpetual problem.

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

Which Airbus crash?

 

Medan bound flights if doesn't meet visibility minimum should divert to PEN! Builds traffic at PEN; good for the PEN spotters!

[Radzi 2]

Which Airbus crash?

 

Medan bound flights if doesn't meet visibility minimum should divert to PEN! Builds traffic at PEN; good for the PEN spotters!

 

Sempati Air A300. 1997 if I'm not mistaken.

 

Going spotting in this haze? You're that desperate?

 

[Pieter C. 5]

October 4, 2006

Indonesia on Wednesday urged airports in areas shrouded by thick smoke from forest fires to close if conditions made landings' hazardous, after a jet with more than 100 on board skidded off a runway in Borneo.

 

The passenger jet operated by Mandala Airlines skidded off the runway on landing in thick haze in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province on Tuesday as fires spread choking haze to neighboring Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore.

 

"We recommend that authorities determine minimal visibility standards in airports. If visibility is below the standards, an airport should be closed temporarily," said Setyo Raharjo, the chairman of the National Commission for Transport Safety.

 

The current regulations allowed a pilot to decide whether it was safe enough to land, he said.

 

Raharjo said haze had contributed to the mishap involving the Mandala Boeing 737-200 aircraft. No one was hurt after the jet skidded 50 metres off the runway in Tarakan.

 

An air traffic controller at Cilik Riwut Airport in Central Kalimantan said there had been some landing delays on Wednesday.

 

"In the morning it is usually dark (with visibility) around 400 metres. It usually lasts until 2 pm (0700 GMT) when visibility rises to between 800 metres to 1 km," said Zamroni who, like many Indonesians, is known by one name.

 

The haze, caused mostly by farmers and plantation owners setting fires to clear land, has forced many flights to be delayed or cancelled in Indonesia in recent days.

 

South-southwesterly winds have blown smoke from fires in central and south Sumatra to Singapore and Malaysia, obscuring sunlight and reducing temperatures and visibility.

 

The haze appeared to worsen in Malaysia on Wednesday, with pollution hitting unhealthy levels in more areas. The Borneo state of Sarawak, blanketed by smog for weeks, was the worst hit.

 

"Today is the worst so far," said one resident in the Sarawak state capital Kuching. "Schools remain open but many people are already wearing face masks."

 

Helicopter flights in the state have been stopped indefinitely because of poor visibility, news agency Bernama said. It also said the state government would distribute one million masks.

 

Kuala Lumpur was also covered by haze with the API level rising to just below the "unhealthy" mark.

 

Visibility at the capital's main airport fell to 3,000-4,000 metres from the usual 10,000 metres, an airport official said.

 

(Reuters)

 

 

[Ewan Shamsudin 0]

Sempati Air A300. 1997 if I'm not mistaken.

 

It was Garuda, capt.

 

A sad unfortunate event it was....

crash details here

[reza 0]

yes...it was Garuda Indonesia A300...

 

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

Sempati Air A300. 1997 if I'm not mistaken.

 

Going spotting in this haze? You're that desperate?

 

 

I was saying on the hypothesis that PEN is not affected... Which is very unlikely...

[Sandeep G 1]

Fortunately for PEN, it's by the ocean, so you should get more winds that blow it over.. but on still day.. ouch.. painful for the eyes and bad for the lungs... Maybe Bomba should buy some of those mighty Bombardier CL-415s to help those neighbours of ours put out those fires... The solution really is that simple! The Europeans and Aussies and Americans battle such forest fires every year.. but they got the equipment.. Maybe it could be an ASEAN investment... Singapore buys 2, Malaysia buys 2, Indonesia buys 20! hehehe Thailand 2

 

who knows!?!?! Equip them in the Airforce and maybe even they can be used for cloud seeding ops??

 

METAR for Malaysian Airports and Singapore today (AirServices Australia)

 

Prepared for: SSGODREI

Valid from 0247 UTC OCT 06, 2006 to 0247 UTC OCT 07, 2006

 

WEATHER INFORMATION

-------------------

 

KUALA LUMPUR INTL-SEPANG (WMKK)

TAF WMKK 060100Z 060312 22005KT 5000 HAZE FEW017CB BKN280

TEMPO 0309 2000 HAZE

 

TAF WMKK 052100Z 060009 05005KT 6000 FEW017CB SCT140 BKN270

TEMPO 0309 2500 HAZE

 

 

PENANG (WMKP)

TAF WMKP 052221Z 060024 22008KT 9000 FEW020 SCT140 BKN260

TEMPO 0106 5000 HAZE

 

 

KUALA LUMPUR-SUBANG (WMSA)

TAF WMSA 052100Z 060024 02005KT 5000 HAZE FEW017CB SCT020 BKN270

TEMPO 0006 2000 HAZE BECMG 0304 18005KT TEMPO 0612 1500 HZ

 

 

JOHOR BAHRU (WMKJ)

TAF WMKJ 052100Z 060024 19007KT 9999 FEW017CB SCT140 BKN300

TEMPO 0612 4000 HAZE

 

 

SINGAPORE (WSSS)

TAF WSSS 060150Z 060312 18010KT 9000 FEW018CB SCT020

TEMPO 0512 5000 HAZE

 

TAF WSSS 052250Z 060009 17010KT 9000 FEW018CB SCT020