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Not snakes, but lizards escaped on our flight: Garuda Indonesia
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A Garuda Indonesia airplane parks in Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten on May 25. (The Jakarta Post/wienda parwitasari)
T
he national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia denied there were snakes loose on board one of its flight, as they were instead indigenous legless lizards that managed to get out of the cargo compartment, an official of the company said on Wednesday.
Three of the lizards escaped the airplane's cargo compartment during a flight from Merauke, Papua, to Jakarta on Tuesday, Garuda’s vice president of corporate communications, Benny S. Butarbutar, said.
"The animal physically looks like a snake, but after an examination and checking of the documents, they are lizards and not snakes," he said in a press statement sent to The Jakarta Post.
The lizard was of the Lialis burtoni species, commonly called legless lizards, Benny said.
The airline acknowledged its plane was carrying a cargo of live animals in a wooden box that had air holes and was covered in a sack.
The cabin crew caught the lizards and secured them immediately. No flight disruptions were caused by the incident, Benny said.
Still, Garuda initiated an investigation into the incident.
"Whoever is proven to negligent over the standard operating procedures in the packaging will face firm sanctions," Benny said in the statement.
The preliminary investigation suggested the delivery box was not in accordance with regulations governing the transportation of live animals, since the confining wire mesh inside should have had smaller holes, he said, adding that officials possibly failed to conduct multiple checks on the cargo loaded onto the flight. (rin)
