A routine domestic flight in Indonesia appeared to proceed without incident until a post-flight inspection revealed unexpected damage to the aircraft’s nose.
On March 7th 2026, a Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-800, registration PK-GFF, operating flight GA-176 from Jakarta to Pekanbaru, departed Jakarta’s runway 25R and climbed normally to its cruising altitude of FL340.
The aircraft completed the flight to Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport and landed on runway 36 without any issues reported during the journey.
However, after the aircraft had arrived at the gate, ground crews conducting routine checks discovered damage to the aircraft’s radome—the protective nose cone that houses the weather radar system.
The nature of the damage and when it occurred during the flight has not yet been determined. The airline confirmed that the cause of the radome damage remains under investigation.
Following the discovery, the aircraft was taken out of service for further inspection and maintenance. The jet remained on the ground in Pekanbaru about 43 hours after landing while engineers examined the damage and assessed the necessary repairs.
