The Ministry Of Transportation Prepares A Replacement Aircraft After Garuda Transports Hajj Pilgrims Return To Base

PHOTOS OF DOCUMENTATION ILLUSTRATION/ANTARA PHOTO/Arnas Padda/rwa.

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) conveyed that the Makassar 5th batch of Hajj flights, which flew back to the departure airport or Return to Base (RTB), with the GA-1105 aircraft on the Makassar-Madinah route, are currently preparing a replacement aircraft.

"A replacement aircraft and flight permit process are being prepared," said Head of the International, Public Relations, and General Cooperation Section of the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Air Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation, Mokkomad Khusnu, as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, May 15.

Khsusnu said that if the replacement plane was ready, then prospective pilgrims were planned to be flown back on Thursday (16/5).

"The plan is to be flown at 16.00 UTC or 22.00 WITA," said Khusnu.

He said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had received a report on the incident of the Garuda Indonesia Aircraft Emergency Landing flight number GA 1105 type Boeing 747-400 for the departure of prospective prospective pilgrims for the Makassar embarkation batch 5 at Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport Makassar (UPG) to Medina (ED) in Rabbu (15/5).

The plane took off time at 15:38 LT with Crew: 18 (2 Pilots, 15 FA, 1 EOB) and 450 Passengers. Initial information about the fire occurred on aircraft engine number 4 (Engine fire#4) after 10 minutes of taking off, "explained Khusnu.

4 Demi keselamatan penerbangan, lanjut Khusnu, pilot mengambil keputusan untuk melakukan emergencylanding atau return to base ke Bandara Sultan Hasanuddin, setelah holding selama 30 menit dan berhasillanding pada pukul 17:07 LT.

After it was confirmed that all passengers were safe, prospective pilgrims were then returned to the Makassar Hajj Dormitory.

Previously, Garuda Indonesia stated that the GA-1105 aircraft on Wednesday, the Makassar-Madinah route, which is a 5-mbarkulation Hajj flight in Makassar, decided to fly back to the departure airport or Return to Base (RTB) to mitigate the risks of operational security aspects.

President Director of Garuda Indonesia, Irfan Setiaputra, in his explanation via text message in Jakarta, Wednesday, said the RTB decision was taken by the Pilot in Command (PIC) as soon as the plane took off taking into account the condition of aircraft engine constraints that required further inspection, after it was discovered that there was a spark on one of the engines.

"Under these conditions, aircraft engines are required to undergo a thorough inspection procedure as part of efforts to ensure the readiness of the fleet to be able to return to operation," he said.

Irfan said the flight had landed safely at Sultan Hasanuddin Airport, Makassar at 17.15 local time (LT), and all passengers were being directed back to the dormitory to wait for the readiness of the replacement plane.

All aircraft passengers, said Irfan, arrived at the airport safely and well, and will be dispatched again as soon as possible referring to the readiness of the replacement aircraft.

"The congregational assistance process to the dormitory also involves relevant airport stakeholders to ensure that the safety and comfort aspects of the passengers are well maintained," he said.