Madinah-Bound Garuda A330 Returns to Solo City After Engine Shutdown

Garuda Indonesia flight GA6239, an A330-300 on a repositioning flight to Madinah, Saudi Arabia, suffered an engine failure and returned to Solo City (SOC) on 2 July.

A Garuda Indonesia A330-300 chartered from San Marino Executive Aviation to Madinah, Saudi Arabia, returned to Surakarta after an engine problem on 2 July 2024.

San Marino Executive/Garuda Indonesia flight GA6239, an Airbus A330-300 departing Surakarta Solo City-Adi Sumarmo Airport (SOC), encountered an engine problem shortly after departure.

Garuda GA6239 Solo City-Madinah

Flight track of Garuda Indonesia GA6239 Solo City to Madinah, showing return to SOC.

The aircraft had reached its cruising altitude and was to the north west of Surakarta, Indonesia. The flight crew reported a problem with the aircraft’s left-hand engine.

The engine was subsequently shut down in-flight and a direct return to Solo City Adi Soemarmo Airport was negotiated.

Flight crew initiated a single engine drift down procedure to the reduced altitude of 10,000 feet on the return.

The flight was then met by emergency services upon its return. It subsequently landed at the origin airport just over one hour after its initial departure.

According to the online source the Aviation Herald, emergency ground services reported sighting smoke from the shutdown left hand engine. The aircraft was then placed undertow and removed to the apron hardstanding area.

The aircraft was conducting a repositioning flight and it was only carrying crew members during the subject flight.

It was operating during the Hajj pilgrimage season to ferry pilgrims back home to Indonesia.

Aircraft Details

The aircraft conducting the Garuda Indonesia GA6239 repositioning service to Madinah-Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Airport (MAD) who was an Airbus A330-200, registered T7-MMM.

This is an 11.7-year-old wide-body aircraft belonging to the carrier Garuda Indonesia and leased from San Marino Executive Aviation.

It has been in operational service with Garuda since May 2024 during the Hajj pilgrimage.

San Marino Executive Aviation is an aviation company registered in San Marino that leases aircraft to Garuda Indonesia, the national airline of Indonesia.

It owns and operates several Airbus A330 passenger jets. These aircraft are then leased to Garuda Indonesia, which operate them with their own flight numbers and livery, but with the registration code indicating ownership by San Marino Executive Aviation.