Denpasar: An Indonesian plane carrying 101 passengers broke in two after missing the runway at Bali airport yesterday and landing in the sea, leaving dozens injured but no fatalities.
The new Boeing 737-800 was operated by budget airline Lion Air, which recently sealed big orders for hundreds of new planes but is banned from US and European airspace over safety concerns.
The domestic flight ended with passengers screaming in terror as the aircraft hit the water after missing the runway at the popular resort island’s Denpasar airport, despite fine weather.
The plane, which was delivered to Lion Air just last month, came to rest partially submerged not far from the end of the runway, with inflatable slides deployed from the front exits and a gaping crack in the fuselage towards the rear.
“The plane plunged into the sea at high speed,” said passenger Ignatius Juan Sinduk, 45, from his hospital bed in Denpasar, where he was being treated for breathing difficulties after his chest was injured in the crash.
“Everybody screamed and water suddenly surged into the plane. Passengers panicked and scrambled for life jackets. Some passengers fell, some ran into others, it was chaos.
“I managed to grab one (a lifejacket) and slowly swam out of the plane and to the shore.”
Dewa Made Indra, local head of the national disaster agency, said that 52 people were taken to hospitals after the crash. Forty-four had since been discharged and eight remained in four different hospitals on the island, he said.
A hospital doctor said one female passenger had suffered a life-threatening brain haemorrhage.
Three foreigners were on board the Lion Air flight when it crashed at around 3pm — a Frenchman, a Singaporean woman and a Singaporean man, according to the airport’s head of communications.
AFP
