Letter: EU flight ban

The Jakarta Post   |  Fri, 01/23/2009 10:30 AM  |  Reader's Forum

I refer to an article titled “EU airspace still off-limits to RI, despite better safety” (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 17, p. 2). I hope that the EU is fully aware of the often wide gap between laws/regulations and law enforcement/practices. New laws and regulations often result in no change on the ground. Or in the air as this case may be.

If the domestic airline industry is anything to go by, Indonesia has a way to go before it can be respected as a well-managed industry with high safety standards. I have had too many bad experiences to remind me why I really hate flying with domestic airlines in Indonesia.

Like the occasion when, allocated row 1 on a domestic jet service, I found ground crew stacking unsecured cargo high against the passenger (my) side of the bulkhead. I gave the crew the choice, either the cargo flies or I do. After numerous conversations between 6-8 people they decided to remove the cargo.

On the same airline, on several occasions, I checked and found that the lifejackets were not under the seats as claimed. I only checked because on one flight my young niece checked and was surprised to find there really was a lifejacket, as the crew announcements had claimed.
She claimed that when she flew with her dad, there were never lifejackets under the seats.

Checking for myself on the same airline I discovered the horrible truth.

On one occasion the back of my seat collapsed onto the passenger behind me. All I got from the crew was “Sorry, the chair is broken”.

Worse still, on another smaller airline I was offered a seat, the last in the plane, which had no back at all. I utterly refused but the seat was quickly snapped up by another prospective traveler.

Children regularly travel without seat belts because none are made available. This should be enough for those airlines to lose their insurance. And then there are the landings for which Indonesian pilots have a poor reputation. I mention in particular their habit of ‘drop landings’ or ‘dead landings’ - cutting the throttle just before touchdown.

The result is often a “stomach in the mouth” jolt as the plane drops to the runway with a jolt.

Yes, this may save some fuel but it not only scares the hell out of some passengers but also means that the pilot has a lot less control than landing with the 30% throttle advised by the manufacturers. This practice has contributed to several Indonesian Boeings breaking in half with such heavy landings (e.g. Adam Air, Surabaya).

Then there are the runways. There are some that I really hate landing at, Tarakan is a case in point where new extension of the runway built over mangrove mud have resulted in a wavy surface that can set a landing plane into a harmonic bounce with associated instability. Some other airports which are also not up to standard are full of surprises for unsuspecting pilots.

Of course, this is only the domestic scene but it is a window into the state of the Indonesian aviation industry that is trying to convince the EU that it has high, internationally-rated safety and other standards. A way to go yet.

I should add that I have no complaint about Garuda international travel though, for a variety of reasons including ticketing and price, it is still not my preferred airline for international travel. I hope that the new laws and regulations will translate into tangible improvements on the ground and in the air.

But that will require cleaning out some of the “deadwood” in the bureaucracy and starting with some fresh, internationally-experienced senior staff.

NAIRDAH
Jakarta

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.