On Wednesday, a Garuda Indonesia A330-300 veered off the runway while backtracking for take-off. The incident took place at around 17:54 local time at the Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar, Indonesia.
Garuda’s A330 was departing to Jakarta on flight GA-613 — that operates twice from Makassar every week. The nose gear got stuck in the mud after the plane attempted a 180⁰ turn at runway 03’s end. The ground was soft due to heavy rainfalls in the city — owing to the monsoon season — and almost completely covered the nose gear. Only the right main gear was in contact with the runway after the aircraft came to a complete stop.
Garuda is Indonesia’s flag carrier which operates from its hub in Tangerang, near Jakarta.
The aircraft was carrying only 26 passengers; no injuries were reported.