On 23 May 2023, a Cessna 208B registered PK-BVU was operated by PT Asi Pudjiastuti Aviation (Susi Air) for scheduled passenger flights in Sumatera area. The aircraft was operated in dual pilot operation. The flight plan of the day of the aircraft and the pilots would be from Padang – Rokot – Padang – Mukomuko – Bengkulu – Enggano – Bengkulu – Muko-Muko – Padang.

At 0717 LT, in daylight condition the aircraft departed from Padang to Rokot on flight number SQS7212. The Pilot in Command (PIC) acted as Pilot Flying (PF) and the Second in Command (SIC) acted as Pilot Monitoring (PM). The total passenger on board the aircraft was five passengers. The filed flight plan in the Air Traffic Service (ATS) provider (AirNav Indonesia), indicated that the flight would follow visual flight rules.

After the departure, Padang Tower controller instructed the SQS7212 to contact the Padang Radar controller. After the PM made initial contact with the Padang Radar controller, the SQS7212 was instructed to climb to an altitude of 10,000 feet and made a direct flight to Rokot.

At 0730 LT, the radar display of the Padang Radar controller indicated that the SQS7212 reached and maintained altitude of 10,000 feet. At 0735 LT, when the aircraft was about 32 Nm from Padang, the air traffic controller instructed the SQS7212 to contact Rokot ACO on frequency 122.4 MHz.

At 0741 LT, the radar display of the Padang Radar controller indicated that the SQS7212 descended from 10,000 feet.

The PM attempted to contact the ACO, and no response was received. The PF then advised the PM to make position broadcast and considered that no flight information service was available.

The PF noticed a new runway with designated number of 14-32 near Runway 17-35 of Rokot. The pilots then flew over the airport at an altitude of 1,000 feet to see the runway condition. At that time the weather was clear and the visibility to the runway was good. Neither pilot saw any cross mark on either runway or any obstructions. The PF noticed that the Runway 14-32 was longer than the Runway 17-35 and its markings including threshold, designated number, and touchdown markings were clearer than the Runway 17-35. The PF then decided to land using Runway 17.

At 0759 LT, the aircraft landed on Runway 14. During the landing roll, the pilots noticed several construction materials on the runway strip and there were no ground personnel in the apron. The pilot realized that they had landed on an undesignated runway.

No one was injured in this occurrence and the aircraft was undamaged.

The investigation is continuing, should any further relevant safety issues emerge during the investigation, KNKT will immediately bring the issues to the attention of the relevant parties and publish as required.

KNKT acknowledges the safety actions taken by the airport operator, however there still safety issues remain to be considered. Therefore, KNKT issued safety recommendations to address safety issues identified in this report to the airport operator, ATS provider, aircraft operator and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.