Kuching International Airport - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

• In 1999, a De Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou on a routine training mission crashed at the swampy area at the end of the runway. Five RMAF personnel were killed.
• In Feb 2006, a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 slipped off the runway while taxiing for take off. There were no fatalities or injuries. All flights into and out of Kuching had to be diverted, delayed or cancelled.
• On Feb 27 2006, a cargo plane of courier company DHL skidded at the end of the runway of the airport when landing at 6.20 am.
• On 7 July 2006, a man called in at 6.23pm to say "Ada bom" (There is a bomb) but it turned out to a bomb hoax. A section of Kuching International Airport's (KIA) domestic arrival entrance was cordoned off for several hours after a suspicious looking black plastic bag was found lying near one of the pillars there. MAB quickly cordoned off the area and quietly diverted the public and passengers to other sections of the KIA complex. With the aid of a Robot Scanner, the Bomb Disposal Unit closed in to check the package and twice blasted it with shotgun pellets. A thorough check by one of the police from the Bomb Disposal Unit in special suit confirmed that the black plastic bag actually contained rubbish. Nevertheless, none of the flights were rescheduled or cancelled during the whole episode. This is the first bomb hoax incident reported since the KIA was refurbished and reopened early last April.
• On 17 August 2006, a second bomb hoax happened, causing Air Asia flight AK5203 with 126 passengers bound for Kuala Lumpur at 9.20am grounded for checking about 100 metres away from the terminal building for explosive in "liquid-form" that had allergedly been planted on board. All 17 flights scheduled for that morning ran as usual.
• On 1 September 2006, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Kuala Lumpur-bound flight MH2507 which was speeding to takeoff on the Kuching International Airport (KIA) runway screeched to a stop, just metres away from the runway limit. A faulty engine suddenly lost power forcing the pilot to abort flight, grounding the Airbus 330 which failed to take off at 11.05 am. Later the passengers had to wait at the KIA departure lounge for close to seven hours before another aircraft came to replace the grounded Airbus 330 in another flight scheduled to depart at 5.30 pm. Among the affected passengers of the fully boarded flight included, several members of the Organisation of Islamic Countries' (OIC) delegates, in the State capital for the Merdeka celebration.
• On 13 January 2007, a Boeing 737-200 belonging to the Gading Sari Aviation Services Sdn Bhd crash-landed while attempting to land at 5.52 a.m. The aircraft's fuselage was badly damaged, and the landing gears and right engine were torn off during the crash. All four crew members escaped unhurt. The airport was closed for six hours while the plane was towed away from the crash site and debris cleared from the runway. Departures and arrivals of 16 MAS and 14 AirAsia flights were delayed affecting 2,200 passengers – 1,000 passengers of MAS and 1,200 from AirAsia. An earlier flight from Kuala Lumpur had to be diverted to Miri Airport. Damages included navigational lights - eight taxi lights, five runway edge lights, two end lights, and one precision approach path indicator. It reopened at noon.
• On 2 October 2009, Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-4H6 9M-MMR was substantially damaged when the port main undercarriage collapsed while the aircraft was parked at the gate.
• On 10 January 2011, AirAsia Flight 5218 skidded on the runway whilst landing. The incident occurred around 10:15pm during a heavy downpour. Four passengers were rushed to Sarawak General Hospital, believed to have suffered from health complications.