Today marks 15 years since a curious incident involving a Boeing 737 flown by Indonesian carrier Adam Air. After making a hard landing just outside Surabaya, a structural failure caused a crack to emerge in the plane’s fuselage, which became bent as a result. Let’s take a look at the incident and its consequences.
The flight and aircraft involved
Adam Air flight 172 was a scheduled service that originated at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport (CGK), which serves the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. This facility served as Adam Air’s main hub during its six-year existence, which spanned from 2002 to 2008. It ranked as the world’s 25th-busiest airport in 2019.
Flight 172’s destination was Juanda International Airport (SUB), just outside Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city. Given that this corridor links the country’s two largest urban centers, it is unsurprising to see that several airlines still serve it today. These include key players such as Citilink, Garuda Indonesia, and Lion Air.
The aircraft that operated Adam Air flight 172 15 years ago today, on February 21st, 2007, was a Boeing 737-300 registered as PK-KKV. According to data from ATDB.aero, it would have been almost 13 years old at the time, having entered service with Air Columbus in May 1994. PK-KKV joined Adam Air in December 2006.
A damaging hard landing
According to the Aviation Safety Network, there were 155 people onboard Adam Air flight 172 on February 21st, 2007. This figure consisted of 148 passengers and seven crew members. While the flight went mainly as planned, its landing in Surabaya took a rather dramatic turn, when the plane’s right wheel touched down four meters outside the runway. The pilots subsequently steered the jet back onto the strip.
However, the nature of the touchdown, less for its misalignment and more for its force, had caused significant structural damage to the aircraft. Registering a…