Paper planes in the intersection while planes face risks

In the rice field, two kilometers from Jakarta International Airport, the rustle of the kites are drowned periodically by the roar of the blogger plane engines.

Paper chains in this field are traced to a group of children, and they hinder them heading towards the sky. But their eyes are also heading below, taking into account airport officials who can come to confiscate kites – and their pleasure.

“In the past, my friends and I escaped when an officer came,” said ATIF, a seven -year -old, one of the children in the field, for BBC. “Now I am more courageous, so I own it when they reprimand me.”

“If the kites are taken, this is sad, but I can always make another one.”

The tension of the rope is revealed here, between the airport authorities and one of the most entertainment in Indonesia.

The paper bird is popular in Indonesia – especially at this time of the year when students go on the summer vacation days. But the authorities have issued warnings about kites, which they say pose a threat to safety if they prohibit aircraft sensors or stumbled into the engines.

Within three days in early July, kites disrupted 21 flights at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which is close to the Paddy field, according to Airnav Indonesia Air Force. Some have been transferred to another airport and some of the landing operations that have been thwarted, considering that it is extremely dangerous to approach kites.

BBC, BBC, told BBC that kites are “moving obstacles” and “a dangerous danger to air safety.”

“We don’t want the accidents to occur.”

Such concerns are not without foundation.

In July 2024, a helicopter crashed in Bali after it was subjected to a paper in a plane chains, wounding three Indonesians and two Australians.

In July 2020, the tendons and bamboo sticks were found from a kite in a plane engine after reaching Soekarno-Hatta. While the plane managed to land without an accident, the accident raised concerns related to serious safety. The following month, the airport created a workplace to make a decision on the paper bird near its places.

Five years later, the problem continued. In July, Minister of Transport, Dodi Burwagundi, urged the airport authorities and regional governments across Indonesia to reduce the damage that kite on flights.

“It is definitely an enjoyable activity, but we also need to educate them to prevent the public or children from engaging in activities that may endanger flights,” says Bhutto.

His colleagues tried to give football and feathers to direct them towards other sports. But the bird is the kites woven in the fabric of the Indonesian culture.

Traditionally made of leaves, colored paper or fabric, kites in Indonesia are transported for various purposes: for rice harvesting ceremony, to chase birds away from crops, or in my mind, as a form of prayer and present to the gods.

“Paper plane has been transported by kites across generations of our ancestors. Almost every region in Indonesia has a tradition of kite flights,” says Asib Irwan, an expert from the Indonesia Museum of the kite.

“However, we need to be careful, especially (with) children. They just fly them. They do not see the potential danger.”

Those who have been arrested may be imprisoned kites, drones, or other things that pose safety risk around airports for up to three years or fined one billion Indonesian rupees ($ 61,000; 46,000 pounds).

But not only on aircraft landing that kites can be dangerous. In densely populated areas, kites are also a deadly distraction. Last year, an eight -year -old boy died after his adventure on the Toll Road at DePok City, south of Jakarta. Police believes that a car was hit while chasing a kite.

In 2020, a man was arrested after the outbreak of his kite and fell on a sub -station in Bali, causing hours of blackout in more than 70,000 homes and buildings.

Returning to the rice field near the Soekarno-Hatta Airport, children say they do not mean tampering with planes-but they are subjected to severe pressure to find better places for their hobby.

Jakarta lost 31 % of its urban green spaces between 2000 and 2020, as the fields and forests have gone through the crowded roads and residential blocks.

“There is no other place here,” says Rasha, 17, who is making and selling kites. “There is another spot, but it is still close to the airport. There are no other places to fly.”

The Paddy field is now home to a fan of the kite, who organize regular regular competitions. Rasha won them twice.

He has previously faced a problem with airport officials who are patrolling, who flipped him and confiscated kites.

He says: “The police came to our house and took two kites and burned them, and the chains of everything,” he says.

“It is very dangerous. But once your kites are taken away, you stop fear.”