On Monday,
April 4, 2016, PK-LBS, a Boeing 737-800 of Batik Air collided with TransNusa
Air Services' Aerospatiale ATR 42-600, PK-TNJ at 19:55 at Jakarta-Halim
Perdanakusuma Airport. PK-TNJ was carrying four crews at the time of the
accident while PK-LBS was carrying 49 passengers and 7 crews. PK-LBS was
operating flight ID7703 to Makassar-Sultan Hassanudin International Airport.
All people on board both aircraft were survived the accident.
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PK-TNJ, TransNusa Air Services’ Aerospatiale ATR 42-600
after collided with PK-LBS, the Boeing 737-800 of Batik Air
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Based on
Director General of Civil Aviation, when this accident occurred at 19.55,
PK-TNJ, the Aerospatiale ATR 42-600 of TransNusa Air Services was being towed
to hangar when PK-LBS, the Boeing 737-800 of Batik Air was taking off. The left
wing of PK-LBS sliced the vertical stabilizer of PK-TNJ until both the
aircraft's wing and vertical stabilizer ripped off from the Aerospatiale ATR
42-600 aircraft. PK-TNJ's vertical stabilizer was totally destroyed. The left
wing of PK-LBS, the Boeing 737-800 was ripped off from the aircraft after
collided with TransNusa Air Services' Aerospatiale ATR 42-600. After collided
with PK-TNJ, PK-LBS veered and its wing caught on fire.
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The wing damages on PK-LBS, the Boeing 737-800 of Batik
Air
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Some
passengers of Batik Air flight 7703 told if they didn't know what happened when
the Boeing 737-800 hit the Aerospatiale ATR 42-600 of TransNusa Air Services.
Passengers only felt a bump just like when a car's tire hitting a hole in the
road. But, some passengers heard a loud bang when the Boeing 737-800 collided
with the Aerospatiale ATR 42-600. After hit PK-TNJ, some passengers of Batik
Air flight 7703 heard the pilots screamed "Fire! Fire!" after the
plane veered and caught fire.
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PK-LBS caught fire after the collision
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The
firefighter of Jakarta-Halim Perdanakusuma Airport immediately extinguished the
fire and evacuated the passengers. Jakarta-Halim Perdanakusuma Airport only has
one runway. So, the airport authority closed the airport until 22:00. The
consequence, many flights were diverted to the nearby airport like
Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. The passengers of Batik Air
flight 7703 received compensation and have flown by airline with the another
aircraft while some passengers refused to fly with another flight and decided
to cancel their flight with too traumatized as the reason.
Both
aircraft involved in this accident were new, PK-TNJ, the Aerospatiale ATR
42-600 was delivered to TransNusa Air Services in September 2014 while PK-LBS
was delivered to Batik Air in November 2014. Experts believe this accident may
be caused by poor coordination by ATC. The investigators are now investigating
this accident. Luckily, Batik Air flight 7703 was not traveling at the high
speed, or the Tenerife Airport Disaster that happened in 1977 when KLM Royal
Dutch Airlines' Boeing 747-200B collided with Pan American World Airways'
Boeing 747-100 that killing 583 people aboard both aircraft.
