Experiencing A Technical Problem, Wings Air Plane Destination BimaK Returns To Lombok Airport

PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

MATARAM - Wings Air flight number IW1878 to Lombok-Bima was forced to return to Lombok International Airport after flying for almost 20 minutes in the air due to technical problems.

Stakeholder Relations Manager of Lombok International Airport, Arif Haryanto, confirmed the information regarding the Wings Air IW1878 flight to Lombok - Bima which carried out RTB (Return to Base) after experiencing technical problems.

"RTB is a condition in which an aircraft is required to return to the airport it departs from. RTB can occur due to two factors, namely technical and non-technical," he said, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, October 12.

He explained that the ATR type aircraft with registration code PK WJU carried 62 people flying from Lombok at 16.06 WITA and should have arrived in Bima at 16.26 WITA. However, after flying for about 20 minutes, the pilot decided to RTB for reasons of air pressure trouble.

"This is a report from the Lombok Airport Operational Unit," he said.

After landing at Lombok International Airport at 16.47 WITA, the passengers were then asked to go down to the waiting room.

However, until 18:05 WITA, Wings Air then decided to postpone the flight and prospective passengers will depart on Wednesday, October 13 at 11.00 WITA.

"As many as 51 prospective passengers are being accommodated at the JM Kuta Lombok Hotel and 11 other prospective passengers are staying at their respective homes, given transportation money of Rp. 150 thousand," he said.

The return incident of the Wings Air plane went viral on social media Facebook after one of the passengers posted on his personal Facebook with the name Dewi Ratna Muchlisa.

In the video uploaded two hours ago, this account recounts what happened when the Wings Air plane failed to continue its journey.

"Today failed to return to Bima. This is a fatal mistake made by passengers," he said during a live broadcast on Facebook.

"This plane, after taking off for seven minutes, it turns out that the air pressure is somehow like that. It's leaking or something Wallahualam," he said again.

He continued that there was a passenger sitting near the emergency exit idly pulling the emergency lever. As a result, the emergency door opens slightly, automatically increasing the air pressure entering the plane.

"Because the passenger sitting in the front, near the emergency door, held the lever, so the door opened. So there was a gap so the plane didn't fly. We were already above, the plane finally came back," he said.

During the Facebook live, the account owner also showed that the Wings Air IW1878 plane that could not continue its flight was parked on the apron of Lombok International Airport. A number of aircraft crews and Angkasa Pura I officers were busy around the ATR 72 type aircraft and some were removing passenger baggage from the plane.