Indonesian jet hits cow, skids off runway

No one was killed or seriously injured when a Lion Air plane carrying 110 passengers collided with a cow wandering on the runway at Sulawesi Island.

An Indonesian passenger jet crashed into a cow and skidded off the runway as it came into land at an airport in the centre of the archipelago, officials say.

No-one was killed or seriously injured when the Lion Air plane carrying 110 passengers collided with one of three cows wandering on the runway as it arrived late on Tuesday in Gorontalo, on Sulawesi island.

The cow, however, was crushed to death under one of the Boeing 737-900's middle wheels, head of Jalaluddin airport Agus Pramuka told AFP on Wednesday.

The pilot, Iwan Permadi, told state-run Antara news agency he could smell "burning meat" as the jet ran over the animal.

He said he thought there were dogs in front of the plane as it came into land, "but it turned out there were three cows wandering in the middle of the runway".

Pictures showed the dead cow under the aircraft's wheel in a field. The plane, which suffered minor damage, had skidded into the field next to the runway, with its tail still on the runway.

All the passengers managed to disembark safely, transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan told AFP.

The plane had started its journey in Jakarta and also had a stopover in Makassar, on Sulawesi, according to local media.

The airport was closed following the incident, disrupting travel plans for people heading home for the Eid al-Fitr holiday in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

One small jet managed to take off Wednesday, but the Lion Air plane was still at the edge of the runway, Pramuka said.

Indonesia, which relies heavily on air transport to connect its more than 17,000 islands, has one of Asia's worst aviation safety records.

In April, a Lion Air passenger jet carrying 108 people crashed into the sea after missing the runway as it came into land on the resort island of Bali. No one died but dozens were injured.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world