Soetta Airport Hit by Bad Weather, Roof Collapsed, This is the Handling that was Done

JAKARTA - Extreme weather in the form of heavy rain with high intensity accompanied by the potential for windshear hit the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport area on Monday, April 6. This condition has an impact on a number of flight operations, especially during the landing phase.

PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia noted that based on data from the Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC), as many as 12 flights were diverted to other airports. In addition, 14 flights were holding, 13 flights were go around, and one flight returned to the apron or Return to Apron (RTA).

Assistant Deputy Communication & Legal KC Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Yudistiawan said flight safety and security remained the top priority amid less conducive weather conditions.

"Intensive coordination continues to be carried out with AirNav Indonesia, airlines, and all related stakeholders to ensure that flight operations continue to run safely, orderly, and under control in the midst of less conducive weather conditions," he said in an official statement, Monday, April 6.

In the midst of this situation, continued Yudistiawan, airport officers were on alert for 24 hours to carry out surveillance of all facilities, including building infrastructure.

"So when there is a possibility of interference, the surrounding area will be sterilized from aircraft passengers and airport workers to minimize the impact," he said.

Furthermore, Yudistiawan said that the quick response of the officers was also seen when there was a disturbance at one of the roof points of the Boarding Lounge Gate 7 area of Terminal 3.

"The condition of the disruption at one point of the roof lasted for about 5 minutes. Airport operational officers immediately handled it, including cleaning and restricting the affected area, so that the condition could be immediately controlled. Currently, the area is clean and the situation has returned to a conducive state, with the airport's operations running smoothly," he said.

Meanwhile, air-side facilities such as runways, taxiways, and aprons are ensured to remain in good condition and can operate normally without puddles that interfere with aircraft movement.

As a precautionary measure, airport users are urged to continue monitoring flight schedule information through official airline channels and information screens at the airport, and to arrive early to anticipate possible schedule adjustments due to weather.

Previously reported, extreme weather with high rainfall intensity that occurred in recent days caused the roof or ceiling to collapse at Terminal 3 of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (Soetta), Tangerang, Banten, to cover the service facilities at the flight terminal.

Based on a video captured by a flight passenger on Monday, April 6, shows the moments of the incident of the roof being broken in Gete 7 Departure in Terminal 3 of Soetta Airport.

Where, in this 17-second video recording, it started with a leak from the top of the airport roof. After that, the leak got bigger until finally the ceiling was broken which was accompanied by water spilling and hitting the passenger waiting room facilities.

"The incident at gate 7, around 13.40 WIB. There were quite a lot of people, thank God, I still had time to run," said one of the passengers to Singapore, reported by ANTARA, Monday, April 6.

According to him, during the incident, there were quite a lot of passengers in the area and the passengers were waiting for the boarding process. However, shortly after the water suddenly fell from the ceiling and made the passengers panic.

"Just now, it happened to want to board to Singapore while waiting at gate 7," he said.