The Boeing 737-800 of Batik Air Collided With TransNusa Air Services' Aerospatiale ATR 42-600

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.

PK-TNJ, TransNusa Air Services’ Aerospatiale ATR 42-600 after collided with PK-LBS, the Boeing 737-800 of Batik Air

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. 

The wing damages on PK-LBS, the Boeing 737-800 of Batik Air

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.

PK-LBS caught fire after the collision

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.

FlyDubai flight 981 Crashed near Rostov-on-Don International Airport

Debris field on the crash site

Again, disaster strikes Russian Aviation. A6-FDN, a FlyDubai Boeing 737-800 crashed near Rostov-on-Don International Airport after aborted to land on today, 19 March 2016. FlyDubai flight 981 was flying from Dubai International Airport to Rostov-on-Don International Airport. There were 55 passengers and 7 crews on board. There were no survivors.

Here is a quote from Wikipedia; "wind speed in the vicinity ranged from 14–22 m/s (27–43 kts; 31–49 mph). Just before the crash, ATC reported to Flight 981 that wind direction was 230 degrees, wind speed 12 m/s (23 kts; 27 mph) with gusts to 18 m/s (35 kn; 40 mph), and visibility was 3,500 m (11,500 ft). According to ATC communications published online, before the aircraft was established on the localizer, the instrument which indicates the centerline of the runway when pilots are landing using instruments rather than visually, pilots reported to ATC that in case they will need to make another go-around, they will climb to flight level 80—approximately 8,000 feet (2400 m). They then reported that they were established on the localizer and continued their descent. At 5.5 kilometers (3.4 mi) before the runway threshold, when the aircraft was at 1500 feet, it started climbing again. After reaching the altitude of 4,050 ft (1,230 m), it began a rapid descent with a vertical speed reaching more than 21,000 ft/min and crashed close to the runway less than a minute later, at 03:42 local time. ATC records appeared to show that the aircraft was going to moments before it crashed. The pilots reported their intention to abort the landing with "Going around, SkyDubai 981". ATC advised Flight 981 to switch to another air traffic controller ("SkyDubai 981, contact Rostov Radar on 121.2"). Flight 981 acknowledged this with "121.2, bye-bye", which was their final transmission."

A6-FDN lifted off from Dubai International Airport

According to Wikipedia, the aircraft, A6-FDN was five years old, first to fly on 21 December 2010 and delivered to FlyDubai on 24 January 2011. Rest in peace for all those who perished on FlyDubai flight 981.