REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Flight observer, Alvin Lie, said that the government has to be firm on enforcing the law in accordance to the finding of allegedly ‘drunken pilot’ hired by Citilink Airline. The pilot, said him, does not only endangered his own life, but also the life of all passengers carried by the plane and the people around the flight area.
According to him, the Constitution has set up a regulation on pilot who endangers the passengers’ life. “How could he fly a plane, when in drunk, people could not even walk straightly and keep his balance,” said Alvin on Sunday (1/1).
He explained, the Act Number 1 of 2009 on Aviation was clearly mentioned the detail of the regulation. Citing on Article 53 of Law No. 1 0f 2009, it is forbidden to fly or to operate an aircraft which potentially endanger the safety of the aircraft, the passengers, their belongings, and/or the residents, or potentially disrupt the security and public order or harm other people's property.
He added, the legislation mentioned that every person who violates the provisions referred to paragraph (1) should be subjected to an administrative sanction such as freezing certificate and/or revocation. Article 411 also stated that any person who intentionally fly or operate an aircraft which endanger the safety of aircraft, passengers and goods, and/or residents or harming property belonging to another person as referred to in Article 53 should be punished with 2 (two) years imprisonment and a maximum mulct of Rp 500 million.
Considering the law, he said that the government was expected to be firm on implementing the regulation. According to Alvin, routine medical test for pilot is usually conducted once in six months. Unfortunately, not all of the causes of a hangover could be revealed in it. "We did not know what made the pilot drunk. Not all of the causes of a hangover can be revealed in a routine medical test every six months," he said.
Previously, a chain message was spread, said that the pilot of Citilink QG 800 Aircraft was drunk and resulted in failed flight. The pilot was delivered a message with slurred tones before takeoff. The message also mentioned that the passengers saw a glimpse of the pilot walked unsteadily into the cockpit of the aircraft.
The passengers who feel uncomforted demanded the Citilink flight crew to delay the flight. They requested the crew to change the pilot. Responding to the incident, the crew asked the passengers to exit and to wait for an official confirmation from the Citilink for the next flight schedule. As a result of this inconvenience, passengers have to wait longer at Juanda Airport in Surabaya, East Java.
Later, the pilot was known as Tekad Purna. After the incident, Citilink Indonesia decided to fired Tekad. “Based on the report and investigation, the management of Citilink Indonesia came to a decision. Citilink takes a decisive action to terminate the pilot,” said the President of Citilink Indonesia, Albert Burhan, in Jakarta on Friday (December 30, 2016).
The incident was also followed by the withdrawal of the Citilink Indonesia President, Albert Burhan, and the Director of Production Affairs, Hadinoto Sudigno. “I apologize on behalf of the management due to the finding of the allegedly drunken pilot. I tried my best to run the management, but on this incident, I feel responsible and I would immediately resign,” said Burhan on the same day.
The incident also took a special attention of the Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi. He expressed his concern and apologized to the public for the inconvenience. He asked the Citilink Airlines management to watch more closely on the quality of the pilots.
"First I was concerned and apologize to the people for what happened and thank you for the critical community reported the incident," he said in Banyuwangi, East Java, on Saturday (December 31, 2016).
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