"This will be the first time a seaplane lands on a lake. The aircraft will take off and land once today, depending on the event conditions, and once on Sunday (February 26)," the ministry's Director for River, Lake, and Crossing Transportation Junaidi stated in Balige Sub-district here, Saturday.
The four-seater capacity Cessna 172 seaplane deployed for the flight to Lake Toba is flown from Banyuwangi, Central Java, to Sibisa Airport here before completing its flight to the volcanic lake.
Meanwhile, Indonesia Civil Pilot Academy of Banyuwangi (API Banyuwangi) Director Daniel Dewantoro Rumani stated that Lake Toba was found to have met the criteria to serve seaplanes and serve as a seaplane base.
Rumani said his side had obtained information on the water conditions, wind, air pressure, temperature, and other aspects surrounding the lake before proceeding with the test flight.
The test flight was made through coordination with the Lake Toba Authority Executive Board, he revealed.
Rumani expressed hope that the test flight's success would open up new avenues for seaplane flights in Lake Toba, including by operating larger Cessna 206 or 208 seaplanes that could accommodate up to 10 passengers.
"We plan that by mid-2023, we will operate (the flight) and start with one seaplane," the director remarked.
The director stated that the flight will be recorded in the Indonesian World Records Museum (MURI) as the first seaplane landing on a lake and the first seaplane base in a lake.
Moreover, the ministry's Air Transport Human Resources Development Centre Head, Heri Sudarmaji, remarked that more aviation programs would follow the test flight at Lake Toba.
"Later, we will facilitate training for civil and tourist pilots. Tourists from Kualanamu Airport (in Medan) can directly reach Lake Toba in only 45 minutes by seaplane," Sudarmaji noted.
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Translator: M Ramdan, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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