AntaraJakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Air Force clarified that the takeoff of presidential candidate number 02 Prabowo Subianto's aircraft, heading for the general election open campaign in Purwokerto, Central Java, April 1, was not aborted by Sukhoi jets.
“The statement is untrue,” Air Force’s Information Service Head, First Marshal Samyoga, remarked while disregarding the claims in Jakarta on Thursday.
The news spread like wild fire after J. S. Prabowo, ex-head of general staff at the Air Force, reported through his Twitter account @marierteman that three Sukhoi fighter jets had maneuvered across the airspace at the time when Prabowo’s aircraft was due to take off to Purwokerto.
“Mr JS Prabowo's statement was inaccurate, as the flights operated on two different days, and on both days, Sukhoi jets were not involved,” Samyoga explained.
He remarked that the Sukhoi CN 235 Kalong Flight fighter jets had departed before Prabowo’s aircraft, an Embraer Lineage 1000 (9H-NYC).
He revealed that Prabowo’s plane was unable to take off since the CN 235 had not yet flown toward crosswind.
“A senior Air Traffic Control (ATC) aborted the plane from taking off due to a safety concern and not due to those Sukhoi jets,” he stated.
Mentioned herewith are intercepts of the next flight on Tuesday, April 2:
10.10 AM: 2 Sukhoi jets landed safely
10.13 AM: 9HNYC started its engine
10.17 AM: 9HNYC requested Taxi
10.18 AM: Wings Air (Won 1721) approach position
10.18 AM: 9HNYC held on the Taxiway C, waiting for Won 1721 to land
10.20 AM: Won 1721 landed
10.21 AM: 9HNYC lined up position
10.23 AM: 9NHYC took off to Padang, West Sumatra
10.24: Three Sukhoi jets landed
“That means the 9HNYC were not related to the Sukhoi flights. The 9HNYC were waiting for a Wings Airplane to land and not a Sukhoi jet,” Samyoga noted.
Prabowo’s aircraft took off for both flights from the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia. EDITED BY INE
Translator: Azizah Fitriyanti
Editor: Eliswan Azly
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
