Atlanta Air carriying hajj pilgrims has engine trouble

Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The Air Atlanta plane leased by Garuda
Indonesia to fly hundreds of Hajj pilgrims from Medan, capital of North
Sumatra province, ran into engine trouble here Tuesday.

Information from reliable sources said here the Boeing 747-300, which
was about to fly the 11th batch of 453 Hajj pilgrims to Mecca, Saudi
Arabia, had trouble with one of its four jet engines.

But the Hajj pilgrims from Simalungun district on board the aircraft
did not panic, although the departure of the aircraft was delayed for
50 minutes.



In the meantime, Chairun Nizar, head of security, safety and services
division of the Polonia airport disclosed that the engine failed to
fire.

"The first engine failed to fire after the pilot turned the ignition key, and repair work takes 50 minutes," Chairun said.

This was the first time that a hajj pilgrim plane in Medan failed to
take off on time. It eventually took off at about 8.50 local time, he
added.(*) END