July 14, 2010
Jakarta Globe
Flight Attendants Bail as Plane Fills With Smoke
Crew and passengers scurried for safety as thick smoke filled a plane as it prepared to take off from Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, to Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday.
A passenger said the flight attendants fled to the exits in panic.
“The smoke was caused by an electrical short circuit in the cockpit,” Lia Handayani, a Merpati Nusantara Airlines official, said at Selaparang Airport.
“Our technicians are currently investigating the incident.”
Widi Kurniawan, a passenger seated in the second row, said he saw smoke coming out of the air-conditioning vents at 7 a.m. He initially did not panic because he thought it was only cold air.
Ironically, it occurred just as the attendants were demonstrating the safety procedure as the plane was taxiing on the runway.
Panic quickly spread among the passengers when smoke filled the cabin and the flight attendants started running toward the emergency exits.
“The passengers were panicking,” Widi said. “Children were screaming. One guy tried to break open the emergency exit, but it took him 15 seconds.”
He said some passengers jumped off the Chinese-made MA60 turboprop plane.
“The flight attendants were nowhere to be seen, maybe because they panicked too,” Widi said.
Merpati said no passengers or crew were injured.
The passengers later boarded another flight to Denpasar.
The National Transportation Safety Committee said it was not sending investigators to probe the accident.
“It’s been categorized as a minor incident, so we’re not investigating it,” a spokesman said.
But he said the Transportation Ministry’s Directorate General of Aviation would investigate.
In April, a Merpati 737-300 overshot the runway at Manokwari Airport in West Papua by 200 meters, injuring at least 20 of the 86 passengers and six crew on board. The plane hit a bridge and was almost split into two.
Jakarta Globe
Flight Attendants Bail as Plane Fills With Smoke
Crew and passengers scurried for safety as thick smoke filled a plane as it prepared to take off from Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, to Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday.
A passenger said the flight attendants fled to the exits in panic.
“The smoke was caused by an electrical short circuit in the cockpit,” Lia Handayani, a Merpati Nusantara Airlines official, said at Selaparang Airport.
“Our technicians are currently investigating the incident.”
Widi Kurniawan, a passenger seated in the second row, said he saw smoke coming out of the air-conditioning vents at 7 a.m. He initially did not panic because he thought it was only cold air.
Ironically, it occurred just as the attendants were demonstrating the safety procedure as the plane was taxiing on the runway.
Panic quickly spread among the passengers when smoke filled the cabin and the flight attendants started running toward the emergency exits.
“The passengers were panicking,” Widi said. “Children were screaming. One guy tried to break open the emergency exit, but it took him 15 seconds.”
He said some passengers jumped off the Chinese-made MA60 turboprop plane.
“The flight attendants were nowhere to be seen, maybe because they panicked too,” Widi said.
Merpati said no passengers or crew were injured.
The passengers later boarded another flight to Denpasar.
The National Transportation Safety Committee said it was not sending investigators to probe the accident.
“It’s been categorized as a minor incident, so we’re not investigating it,” a spokesman said.
But he said the Transportation Ministry’s Directorate General of Aviation would investigate.
In April, a Merpati 737-300 overshot the runway at Manokwari Airport in West Papua by 200 meters, injuring at least 20 of the 86 passengers and six crew on board. The plane hit a bridge and was almost split into two.
