According to information collected by Antara, the incident happened at around 21.15 West Indonesian Time but there were no fatalities in the plane piloted by Hambauran Andriansyah.
It was tentatively believed the aircraft had skidded because of bad weather marked by torrential rain and strong winds.
Until now, there was no official information from the company about the mishap . The Pekanbaru Airport Authority also semmed reluctant to tell reporters anything.
Meanwhile, the plane`s passengers numbering more than one hundred looked shocked and frightened because what they had experienced. "We were scared and shocked because all of a sudden the plane heaved to one side after it had landed," Susi, one of the passengers said.
According to her, the plane skidded to the left side at the end of the runway. Earlier, the company had told the passengers that the weather was bad. .
The plane had departed Jakarta`s Soekarno-Hatta airpport one hour late and before landing at Sultan Sarif Kasim II airport flew in circles several times.
It was learned that a female passenger fainted during the incident but the airport authority refused to comment on it.
Until 23.15 West Indonesian Time, the Lion Air plane had yet to be removed from where it skidded and come to a halt on the runway. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
