Summary
- Miscommunication led to a ground crew member falling from a Transnusa Airlines plane at Jakarta airport, raising safety concerns.
- The importance of communication between ground and air crews was highlighted following an incident caught on video.
- The incident delayed the flight by 50 minutes, reminding the importance of following safety procedures during aircraft turnaround.
A Transnusa Airlines ground crew member fell from the main boarding door after the ground crew had removed the boarding stairs early. At Jakarta Soekarno–Hatta International Airport (CGK) on May 13, the ground agent was talking with the crew finalizing departure paperwork when the ground handlers, presumably Jasa Angkasa Semesta (JAS) as branded on the stairs, removed them with the aircraft door still open. While details of the individual’s injuries remain sparse, multiple online sources have confirmed they didn’t receive serious injuries and were being treated in a local hospital for broken bones.
Miscommunication was evident between the flight coordinator and the passenger boarding stairs officer from JAS, which resulted in the FC not being informed that the boarding stairs had left the aircraft. The incident, captured with a video, has since gone viral on social media, raising concern about practices by the ground crew company and for the injured individual. Data from Flightradar24 shows the flight was subsequently delayed 50 minutes following the incident.
Following the incident, it has highlighted the importance of communication between ground and air crews and following safety procedures during aircraft turnaround. Ground handling rules usually dictate that the moveable stairs are not removed under any circumstances while the aircraft cabin door is open. Simple Flying reached out to JAS but had not received a response by the time this article was published.
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Transnusa airlines
Transnusa, headquartered in Jakarta, was launched in 2005. It serves several domestic destinations, including Kupang and Timor, with chartered aircraft from Pelita Air and Trigana Air Service.
The airline relaunched in 2022 after briefly ceasing operations in 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. It was then sold to China Aircraft Leasing Group (CALC) and relaunched as a low-cost carrier. Over the pandemic, the airline ceased operations before being sold to China Aircraft Leasing Group (CALC) and relaunched as a low-cost carrier.
Photo: Kikik Hayustya | Shutterstock
According to data from ch-Aviation, an online aircraft database, the airline currently has a fleet of six aircraft: four Airbus A320-200S and two COMAC ARJ21-700s. The aircraft at the center of the dramatic incident was the A320-200, registered PK-TLB. The 17.9-year-old aircraft was initially operated by Air Berlin (D-ABDG) in 2006 before being transferred to Chengdu Airlines (B-6730) and eventually Transnusa in August 2022.
As it was handed over to Transnusa, it had completed over 47,653 flight hours and 28,821 flight cycles. It can seat 174 passengers in economy class and is powered by two CFM International CFM56 engines.
Photo: axell.rf | Shutterstock
Destinations from Jakarta
Transnusa serves domestic and international destinations from Jakarta, with services to Denpasar, Guangzhou, Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur–-International, Singapore, and Yogyakarta–-International.
Have you traveled with Transnusa? Let us know in the comments.
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