IMMOBILE: The back wheel of the Twin-Otter is seen stuck in the grass verge.
MIRI: The back wheel of a MASwings Twin-Otter plane became embedded in the grass verge by the Bario Airport runway yesterday.
MH3434 had departed from Miri Airport at 8.50am and landed safely on the runway at Bario around 9.30am.
However, the plane carrying 12 passengers somehow became stuck when it turned towards the terminal.
No one was injured, but the incident delayed outgoing flights from Bario to Miri in the afternoon.
A villager from Bario, who declined to be named, said the wheel was finally dislodged at 11.25am.
It is believed that a MASwings engineer from here was sent to check on the condition of the plane, but as of press time the results were not known.
Meanwhile, when contacted Ba Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian said he was unaware of the incident.
However, he said the need for bigger airports in Bario and Ba Kelalan had been raised during the just-concluded State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting.
“I raised it in my speech in the DUN sitting and hope the government would take immediate action,” he said from Kuching.
He added that Long Semado Airport should be reopened or good roads built to the rural areas to improve accessibility.