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Minister apologizes for Citilink pilot incident
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Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi greets bus passengers at Purbaya Bus Terminal in Sidoarjo, East Java, on Dec. 30 when the minister inspected the readiness of bus transportation during the New Year holiday. (Antara/Umarul Faruq)
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ransportation Minister Budi Karya has offered an apology to the public for an incident in which a Citilink pilot was removed from a Citilink QG-800 flight from Surabaya, East Java, to Jakarta on Wednesday, allegedly because he was drunk.
“On the Citilink incident, I am concerned and apologize to the public over the appalling incident,” Budi said in Banyuwangi, East Java, on Saturday as reported by kompas.com.
“I also thank the people who have given information and criticism and reported the incident,” the minister added.
Following the incident Citilink president director Albert Burhan submitted his resignation to the minister. Budi appreciated Albert’s decision with the hope that the incident would become a valuable lesson for relevant parties.
(Read also: Citilink top executives resign after 'drunk pilot' incident)
“I appreciate his decent decision. It is a lesson that safety is number one. It could be an opportunity to improve the condition of [Indonesian] aviation,” he added.
If the Citilink management implemented all the procedures for the flight crew members before the flight, including checking the health of pilots, such incidents would never happen, he said.
“There will be an evaluation about the implementation of the aviation regulations to make sure that such incidents will never happen again,” he stressed.
The pilot of low-cost carrier Citilink was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol after he made a garbled announcement just before the plane was due to take off from Juanda International Airport. (bbn)
