Kites within the crosshairs as planes face peril

[ad_1] Koh Ewe and Hanna Samosir BBC Information

Reporting fromSingapore and Jakarta Watch: BBC visits discipline close to Indonesian airport the place kids fly kites

At a paddy discipline two kilometres from Jakarta's worldwide airport, the rustle of fluttering kites is periodically drowned out by the thunderous roar of aircraft engines.

Tugging at kite strings within the discipline are a gaggle of kids, their necks craned in the direction of the skies. However their eyes are additionally darting under, conserving a lookout for patrolling airport officers who may come to confiscate their kites - and their enjoyable.

"Prior to now, my associates and I'd run away when an officer got here," seven-year-old Atif, one of many youngsters within the discipline, tells the BBC. "Now I am braver, so I associate with it once they scold me."

"If my kite is taken, it is unhappy, however I can all the time make one other one."

A tug of battle is unfolding right here, between airport authorities and one in every of Indonesia's most cherished pastimes.

Kite-flying is fashionable in Indonesia - particularly right now of the 12 months when college students go on summer time holidays. However authorities have issued warnings in regards to the kites, which they are saying pose a security hazard in the event that they block plane sensors or get snagged in engines.

Throughout three days in early July, kites disrupted 21 flights at Soekarno-Hatta Worldwide Airport, the one close to the paddy discipline, in accordance with air-traffic controller AirNav Indonesia. Some had been diverted to a different airport and a few aborted landings, deeming it too harmful to go close to the kites.

Kites are "transferring obstacles" for planes and a "severe threat to flight security", Putu Eka Cahyadi, head of the Soekarno-Hatta Worldwide Airport Authority, tells the BBC.

"We do not need accidents to happen."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/aa1f/live/38157190-6dab-11f0-8613-1d712cf2c4d7.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/aa1f/live/38157190-6dab-11f0-8613-1d712cf2c4d7.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/aa1f/live/38157190-6dab-11f0-8613-1d712cf2c4d7.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/aa1f/live/38157190-6dab-11f0-8613-1d712cf2c4d7.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/aa1f/live/38157190-6dab-11f0-8613-1d712cf2c4d7.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/aa1f/live/38157190-6dab-11f0-8613-1d712cf2c4d7.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/aa1f/live/38157190-6dab-11f0-8613-1d712cf2c4d7.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/aa1f/live/38157190-6dab-11f0-8613-1d712cf2c4d7.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Haryo Bangun Wirawan/BBC Back view of a group of children and teens looking at the sky, as they fly kites in a field" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Haryo Bangun Wirawan/BBC Youngsters have continued to fly kites at a discipline close to the airport, regardless of warnings from authorities

Such fears should not unfounded.

In July 2024, a helicopter crashed in Bali after it bought entangled in kite strings, injuring three Indonesians and two Australians on board.

In July 2020, strings and bamboo sticks from a kite have been discovered within the engine of a aircraft after it arrived at Soekarno-Hatta. Whereas the aircraft had managed to land with out mishap, the incident triggered severe security considerations. The next month, the airport arrange a process pressure to crack down on kite-flying close to its premises.

5 years on, the issue has persevered. In July, transport minister Dudy Purwagandhi urged airport authorities and regional governments throughout Indonesia to minimise the hurt that kites are posing to flights.

"It is definitely a enjoyable exercise, however we additionally want to teach them to forestall the general public or kids from participating in actions that would endanger flights," says Mr Putu.

His colleagues have tried giving the youngsters footballs and badminton racquets to steer them in the direction of different sports activities. However kite-flying is woven into the material of Indonesian tradition.

Historically made with leaves, vibrant paper or fabric, kites are flown in Indonesia for varied functions: for rice harvest ceremonies, to chase birds away from crops or, in Bali, as a type of prayer and providing to the gods.

"Kite flying has been handed down by generations from our ancestors. Virtually each area in Indonesia has a practice of kite flying," says Asep Irawan, an skilled from the Indonesia Kite Museum.

"Nevertheless, we should be cautious, particularly [with] kids. They simply fly them. They do not see the potential hazard."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/081a/live/a0a764a0-6dad-11f0-9377-f30ce3d535ea.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/081a/live/a0a764a0-6dad-11f0-9377-f30ce3d535ea.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/081a/live/a0a764a0-6dad-11f0-9377-f30ce3d535ea.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/081a/live/a0a764a0-6dad-11f0-9377-f30ce3d535ea.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/081a/live/a0a764a0-6dad-11f0-9377-f30ce3d535ea.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/081a/live/a0a764a0-6dad-11f0-9377-f30ce3d535ea.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/081a/live/a0a764a0-6dad-11f0-9377-f30ce3d535ea.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/081a/live/a0a764a0-6dad-11f0-9377-f30ce3d535ea.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Haryo Bangun Wirawan/BBC Back view of a boy in a yellow T-shirt holding a large blue kite" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Haryo Bangun Wirawan/BBC Youngsters say they cannot discover higher locations to fly their kites

These caught flying kites, drones or different issues that pose security dangers round airports could also be jailed as much as three years or fined one billion Indonesian rupiah ($61,000; £46,000).

But it surely's not simply on airstrips that kites could be harmful. In densely populated areas, kites are additionally a lethal distraction. Final 12 months, an eight-year-old boy died after venturing onto a toll highway in Depok metropolis, south of Jakarta. Police imagine he was hit by a automotive whereas chasing a kite.

In 2020, a person was arrested after his kite broke and fell onto a substation in Bali, inflicting hours of blackout in additional than 70,000 homes and buildings.

Again on the paddy discipline close to Soekarno-Hatta Airport, the kids say they do not imply to mess with the planes - however they're hard-pressed to seek out higher locations for his or her interest.

Jakarta misplaced 31% of its city inexperienced areas between 2000 and 2020, as fields and forests gave method to congested roads and condo blocks.

"There's nowhere else round right here," says Rasha, a 17-year-old who makes and sells kites. "There's one different spot, however it's nonetheless near the airport. There simply aren't every other locations to fly."

The paddy discipline is now residence to a group of kite fans, who organise common kite-flying competitions. Rasha has received them twice.

He has bought into hassle earlier than with the patrolling airport officers, who chided him and confiscated his kites.

"The police even got here to our home and took two of my kites and burned them, strings and all. After that, my siblings scolded me and advised me to cease. However not too long ago, I began flying kites once more," he says.