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Indonesian caught hiding in plane's gear arrested in Malaysia
The Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia is monitoring the case.
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GR, who faced the risk of being crushed as the landing gear retracted after take-off or hypothermia at a high altitude, told local officials that he took the action because he could not afford the airfare to Medan. (Shutterstock/-)
M
alaysian police have arrested an Indonesian citizen, identified only as GR, caught trying to hide inside the wheel well of plane at Penang International Airport.
He was reportedly looking to fly back home to Medan, North Sumatra, for free.
The Foreign Ministry's Indonesian citizen protection director, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, confirmed the report on Tuesday, saying that GR was arrested on Monday.
"So far, the charge is trespassing in the airport secure area," he said in a press statement.
The Indonesian representative office in Penang is currently monitoring the development of the case, he added.
As reported by Malaysia’s Bernama news agency the 39-year-old stowaway, a poultry processing factory worker, was spotted by a technician as he slipped out of the landing gear section at 10 a.m. local time on Monday.
GR, who faced the risk of being crushed as the landing gear retracted after take-off or hypothermia at a high altitude, told local officials that he took the action because he could not afford the airfare to Medan.
The head of airport authority in Medan, Bintang Hidayat, condemned the action, adding that he was investigating the person’s background.
He said the case reminded him of a similar case in 2015 in Sultan Syarif Kasim II Pekanbaru in Riau. The stowaway, Mario Ambarita, was sentenced to five months in jail for violating articles 435 and 421 of the 2009 Aviation Law.
Apriadi Gunawan contributed to this story from Medan.
