Indonesian pilot suspended after plane skids off runway

“An air safety team has gone to the site to investigate the cause of the accident,” Transport Ministry’s spokesman Bambang Ervan told AFP,adding that the jet had arrived from Jakarta.

“We temporarily suspended the pilot until we concluded the investigation,” he said.

The Lion Air Boeing 737 was carrying 169 passengers and six crew members when it overshot the runway.

“The plane’s body has not been evacuated as its engine is submerged in the mud,” an airport’s employee Yudianto said adding that the airport remained close due to the incident.

The vast archipelago of Indonesia relies heavily on air transport but has one of Asia’s worst air safety records.