Less than two weeks ago, there came the awful news that Lion Air Indonesia flight JT610 from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang crashed with 189 people aboard. Unfortunately all those who were on board are believed to be deceased, and the search continues for the remains of the wreckage.
We're following reports that contact has been lost with Lion Air flight #JT610 shortly after takeoff from Jakarta.
ADS-B data from the flight is available at https://t.co/zNM33cM0na pic.twitter.com/NIU7iuCcFu
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) October 29, 2018
Lion Air has now suffered another unfortunate situation.
Lion Air Indonesia Flight JT633
Flight JT633 was preparing to depart from Fatmawati Airport in Bengkulu to Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport with 145 passengers on board at 6.20pm on Wednesday. The flight was operated by a Boeing 737-900ER aircraft, registration PK-LGY.
The plane hit a pole in front of the airport’s VIP terminal building as it was taxiing to the runway for take off, badly damaging the left wing.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation released a statement saying:
We have received a preliminary report from the Head of Fatmawati Bengkulu Airport that the wing of Lion Air’s JT633 departing from Fatmawati Bengkulu Airport towards Soekarno Hatta Airport hit the Stand 3 parking pole in front of the Airport VIP building causing the left wing of the aircraft to be damaged
The plane returned to the terminal. Fortunately there are no reported injuries.
Pictures of the damaged wing were shared on Facebook.
Both the aircraft and the pilots have been grounded while the incident is investigated.
Bottom line
I often notice when taxiing at an airport just how much space there is around runways, taxiways and remote stands. There are no details yet as to why the aircraft was in a position where it was so close to the pole, that it collided with it.
Fortunately this incident was not nearly as serious as the horrible flight JT610 tragedy, but two incidents within two weeks does not bode well for the airline.
Would you still fly Lion Air after these incidents?
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