OK I gotta admit, Captain Anwar Haryanto deserves some kudos as well. He managed to land an MD-90 with more than 150 on board and no nose gears.
Yes, no front gears.
For those of you living in a cave, or simply not caring about the world, here's a quick recap. Lion Air Flight JT 972 departing from Medan's Polonia Airport landed in Batam's Hang Nadim after failing to release its nose wheels.
The plane had flown around for an hour to empty the fuel tank, in order to reduce risk of catching fire.
All 150 passengers and cabin crew were safe, with nine of them being hospitalized for stress.
Haryanto spoke to Metro TV today, saying that passengers hugged him after touching the ground safely, thanking him for such landing.
If you're too lazy to scroll down, last month, a US Airways Airbus ditched on Hudson River after a flock of birds collided into one of its engines. All 150 passengers were safe, and the captain was hailed as a hero in the media.
With Lion Air's so-so reputation, Haryanto's move can be a flying mark for the airline. Problem is, a team from the European Union is currently in Indonesia to audit the country's aviation, further determining whether the blanket ban can be lifted in March.
EU banned all Indonesian aircraft from flying over Europe in 2007, citing safety as the main reason.
Let's just hope the EU guys will see the heroic side of this story.
On an irrelevant note, I think one of my dreams may come true; if nothing goes wrong, I'm gonna cry singing Fix You with Mr. Martin.
No comments:
Post a Comment