No casualties have been reported as a result of the aircraft’s right wingtip colliding with a jet bridge during taxing.
At Mopah International Airport in Merauke, South Papua, Indonesia, a Lion Air Boeing 737 collided with the terminal building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the event, which happened on a flight to Jayapura on January 26th.
Flight JT767 was slated to take off from the Boeing 737-900 towards the provincial capital Jayapura. The winglet collided with a jetbridge on the airport terminal building shortly after 9:00 as the plane was preparing to take off from stand No. 5 and was its route to Runway 34.
The aircraft appears to continue for a brief period before returning to the terminal area, as seen in passenger-filmed footage. Both the airplane and the terminal building suffered serious structural damage. Flight JT767 was slated to take off from the Boeing 737-900 towards the provincial capital Jayapura.
The winglet collided with a jetbridge on the airport terminal building shortly after 9:00 as the plane was preparing to take off from stand No. 5 and was its route to Runway 34. The aircraft appears to continue for a brief period before returning to the terminal area, as seen in passenger-filmed footage. Both the airplane and the terminal building suffered serious structural damage.
The airport, one of the most eastern in the nation, acts as the primary entry point to a number of popular tourist spots in the Merauke area, the most well-known of which being Wasur National Park.
What followed was?
At the time of the event, there were 7 crew members, 4 children, 1 toddler, and 117 adult passengers on board. The aircraft can be seen continuing to taxi down the runway before eventually returning to stand No. 6 in video taken by passengers. There was a choice for the impacted customers between changing to another aircraft and getting a refund.
An examination technician declared the aircraft AOG (Aircraft on Ground) after ground personnel checked the whole body of the aircraft upon its return to the gate. The aircraft is still grounded, and any upcoming rotations have been scrapped.
The fifteen-year-old plane, which is owned by the lessor Aergo Capital, started flying with Lion Air in February 2008. The airplane runs on a three-leg rotation system. At 09:10 local time, the regularly scheduled service will leave Merauke for Jayapura Sentani Airport.
The same aircraft then makes its way to the airports in Jakarta Soekarno Hatta and Makassar Sultan Hasanuddin. The flight crew’s incompetence, according to Lion Air Group, was not to blame for the plane’s wing colliding with the jet bridge.
As of the time of press, no cause could be determined, although Danang Mandala Prihantoro, the head of corporate communications strategy at Lion Air, confirmed to local media that the plane may have been trying to avoid a runway obstacle:
“Further inquiries are being made into the situation by Lion Air and the relevant authorities right now. Lion Air is unable to identify the cause or offer any details.
To gather recommendations, the investigative procedure must take a long period.” Working with the appropriate authorities, Lion Air is presently looking into the issue. The active flight crew will also undergo drug testing by the Merauke Police Drug Unit.
