Linus Kia, one of the 30 passengers said the plane with flight number NZ 6502, operated by Merpati Airlines, was circling over Malli Alor Airport in Kalabahi three times before it finally returned to El Tari Airport in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara`s provincial capital.
"The plane we were flying on was forced by thick fog and heavy rain to return to Kupang after it made three unsuccessful attempts to land at Malli Alor Airport," Linus said.
He said the plane took off from El Tari Airport in Kupang at 7 am local time on Thursday and was scheduled to arrive in Kalabahi one hour later but it was forced by bad weather to return to Kupang.
Some other passengers of the ill-fated airplane said at El Tari Airport that they understood the weather condition and the right decision, made by the pilot to return to El Tari Airport.
Linus said they were waiting for a confirmation if they could continue their flight to Kalabahi on Thursday or later on Friday.
According to him, heavy rain which was accompanied by strong wind continued to hit Kupang and its surrounding since Wednesday until Thursday noon and disturbed flight activities at the local airport.
Due to that bad weather, he said an airplane of Batavia Air on Wednesday failed to land on El Tari Airport and was forced to return to Makassar, South Sulawesi.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
