One killed as Indonesia plane hits people on landing
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 14:28:00 01/30/2008
Filed Under: Disasters & Accidents, Accidents (general), Air Transport
JAKARTA -- A small plane hit two people while landing in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua Wednesday, killing one and seriously injuring another, an official and report said.
The plane carrying 15 passengers skidded off the runway at the remote Sugapa airstrip and ploughed into people waiting to greet local officials who were on board, local district police chief Mirzal Alwi told Metro Television.
Alawi said the passengers were unhurt and the injured person was being flown to hospital in the town of Timika.
Sugaba airstrip cannot be reached by telephone but an official at the nearby Nabire airport told Agence France-Presse the accident involved a Twin-Otter aircraft operated by a small local airline, Avia Star. He had no immediate report on the passengers.
Papua, a province of mountains and thick jungle in the western half of New Guinea Island, relies heavily on air traffic for transport in the absence of a substantial road network.
Most of the airstrips are rudimentary and residents can often approach the runway unhindered. Even at a larger airport in Merauke, southern Papua, a large Boeing 737 landing there hit a calf which wandered onto the runway, severely damaging one engine earlier in the week.
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