JAKARTA: Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia president director Irfan Setiaputra confirmed on Thursday (Jan 11) that an aircraft flying to Melbourne, Australia from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Saturday had to return to base (RTB) after the discovery of a technical problem.
Flight GA 716 flying the Jakarta-Melbourne route had to complete an RTB because of safety concerns, Irfan said on Thursday, as quoted by the Antara news agency.
“We apologise for the inconveniences experienced by the passengers,” Irfan said as quoted by Antara.
He said that the airline would conduct further evaluation to ensure that flight safety could be implemented to the fullest.
“Considering the safety factor, the pilot in command [PIC] coordinated with the operations control centre and decided to return to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in a good and normal condition for further inspection,” he said.
Irfan said the airplane returned to the airport after also considering the ease of coordinating the need for spare parts and a replacement aircraft. He added that flight GA 716 finally left at the wee hours of Sunday morning.
The aircraft involved, an Airbus A330-300, departed from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on time at 7pm on Saturday and was scheduled to arrive to Melbourne at 5:30am on Sunday local time.
After flying for several hours, the PIC saw the cockpit indicator showing the aircraft’s hydraulic condition needed inspection and further treatment. The aircraft conducted an RTB and landed in Jakarta at 12:25am. Garuda prepared a replacement aircraft, an Airbus A330-900 Neo, which departed at 2:4am and landed in Melbourne at 1:10pm local time.
“Following the schedule adjustment, Garuda ensured that all impacted passengers received service recovery according to the regulations,” Irfan said.
The Airbus A330-900 Neo is the latest iteration of the popular A330-300 twin-engine medium-haul aircraft. According to its website, Garuda currently operates 16 A330-300s and three A330-900s, as well as three A330-200s.
Depending on the configuration, these models have a capacity of between 222 and 360 passengers. The A330-200 has the longest range, at 13,427km, followed by the A330-900, with 12,038km, while the A330-300 has a range of 11,297km. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
