Passengers delayed by over 12 hours after truck hits Singapore-bound SilkAir plane at Medan airport

File photo of a SilkAir Boeing 737 Max 8. PHOTO: REUTERS

SINGAPORE - A SilkAir passenger aircraft was struck by a service truck at low speed at Medan Kualanamu International Airport in Indonesia while it was parked there.

No passengers were injured during the incident involving flight MI 233, which was supposed to leave Medan, Indonesia, at around 9am Singapore time on Saturday (Dec 23) when the truck hit the plane, a SilkAir spokesman said.

An image posted on Twitter by user Gerry Soejatman showed that the plane, a Boeing 737-800, was struck on the centre left of the plane.

Few scuff marks could be seen, but the damage did not appear to be severe.

SilkAir sent a second aircraft, flight MI 8852, to transport the 163 passengers back to Singapore. It departed at 9.40pm and is scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 12.20am on Sunday morning, delaying passengers for more than 12 hours.

The SilkAir spokesman said the service truck had hit the aircraft at "a low speed".

"As a result, the aircraft was grounded for damage assessment and repairs," said the spokesman.

Mr Wisnu Budi Setianto, the communications and legal manager at the Kualanamu airport told Jakarta-based news portal Detik.com that the airport authority, SilkAir and Angkasa Pura - the state company that manages Kualanamu airport - are investigating.

It is not known yet whether the incident occurred due to a brake failure or human error, the portal reported. The vehicle that struck the plane is believed to be an air-conditioner service car.

The aircraft has been moved to the cargo terminal's apron for further investigation.

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