The pilot of the Lion Air plane which skidded on the runway while landing at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport last Monday (March 9), has been temporarily banned from flying any plane.

"While he is under investigation over the incident, the Lion Air pilot is not allowed to fly any plane," EA Silloy, the Soekano-Hatta airport administrator, said in Tangerang on Tuesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

The decision was made at a meeting attended by the transportation ministry's air transportation safety director general, Herry Bakti, General Director of Lion Air Edward Sirait, and representatives of the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT).

The Lion Air's Boeing 737 - 900 jetliner skidded on Soekarno-Hatta airport's runway and came to a stop in a rice-field after landing at 3.43 pm last Monday.

The plane with 168 passengers on board landed in bad weather marked by heavy rain. There were no casualties in the incident.

The Jakarta Post/ANN