Nine passengers were injured at Bali Denpasar airport when they jumped out of a Batavia Air aircraft after they saw smoke spewing from the engine.
The incident happened at 11:45 on 3 December when the Boeing 737-400, registration PK-YVR, was about to move off, says a Batavia Air spokesman.
"The captain tried to start the first engine but it failed to start, so he tried the second engine. The second engine started up, and he tried to start the first engine again. There was smoke when it started, but that is normal," says the spokesman.
"There was no fire and the aircraft was not moving. The smoke was exhaust smoke, like exhaust smoke from cars," he says, adding that there was nothing wrong with the aircraft and it has since returned to service.
Passengers panicked and opened the aircraft doors on their own, says the spokesman.
"There was no order to evacuate from the captain, but they wanted to get out of the plane," he adds.
Nine passengers were injured when they jumped out of the aircraft while the slide was not fully inflated, says the spokesman. Out of the nine, only one passenger is still in hospital, he adds.
The 148-seat aircraft had earlier been flying from Surabaya to Kupang. But was forced to stop in Bali because a Merpati Nusanata Fokker 100 was stuck on Kupang's runway, forcing that airport to close.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
