Several incidents involving drugs and pilots with privately owned Lion Air have raised concerns about aviation safety in the country and prompted calls for the Indonesian government to immediately audit the management of the airline.
A helicopter pilot looks at his flight plan on an Apple Inc. ipad over Weehawken, New Jersey, U.S. (Bloomberg)
“The regulator needs to audit the management of Lion Air in order to find the gaps in the management and fix them immediately,” professor of aviation law from Tarumanegara University Kemis Martono said on Sunday.
He applauded the collaboration between the Transportation Ministry and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) through a memorandum of understanding last week to prevent drug abuse in the transportation sector.
However, it was not enough, he said “The government has to issue a new regulation on drug use among pilots and crews. Legal measures are badly needed to curb these cases because this is all about safety,” he said.
Pilot SS, 44, who was scheduled to fly from Surabaya to Makassar, South Sulawesi at 6:15 am, was caught in his hotel room in Surabaya with 0.04 grams of crystal methamphetamine, known as shabu shabu, on Saturday at around 3:30 am.
SS, has been working with the airline for 7 years and is claimed to be one of the best pilots in the airline.
His arrest has added to the list of the airline’s pilots and crew being found with the banned drug.
Recently, a Lion Air pilot named Hanum Adhyaksa was arrested in a hotel in Makassar. He was found to be under the influence of crystal meth when arrested. BNN also arrested a Lion Air pilot by the name of Muhammad Nasri and his co-pilot Husni Thamrin in an apartment in Serpong, Tangerang, last year, in similar circumstances.
Meanwhile, Winnie Raditya, another crew member, was arrested after crystal meth was found hidden in her underwear early last year.
Lawmaker from the United Development Party (PPP) on the House’s Commission V overseeing transportation Arwani Thomafi agreed with Kemis Martono.
He said that he sensed something wrong with the management of Lion Air. “We need to audit the management especially their crew training department and health screening. This phenomenon has entered the critical stage and the airline has risked safety,“ he said.
He said that the House was going to summon the Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan and Lion Air about the use of recreational drugs by pilots and crew this week.
The ministry’s air transportation director general Herry Bhakti Gumay said that the ministry was in the process of drafting a “Drugs and Alcohol Testing Program” that would apply to all people involved in air transportation-related work on a daily basis including air traffic controllers, ground crew, technicians and airport security personnel.
Herry announced that the ministry had revoked the license of SS.
The airline expressed willingness to do anything in order to prevent drug use among pilots including collaborating with the police. “We are ready to work with any party that can help us to prevent drug abuse in Lion Air including the police, the BNN and the regulator,” the airline general affairs director Edward Sirait said. (The Jakarta Post)
<한글 기사>
'마약 먹고 비행'..조종사 잇따라 적발
인도네시아 항공업계가 민간항공사 라이온에어의 조종사들의 잇따른 마약 사용 혐의 적발로 곤혹스러워하고 있다.
인도네시아 언론은 6일 인도네시아 항공운송협회 텡쿠 부르하누딘 사무총장이 전날 "항공사 승무원들의 마약 사용이 항공업계의 이미지를 손상하고 있다"며 신속히 마약 유통을 단속해줄 것을 정부에 요청했다고 전했다.
그는 또 정부는 마약 혐의로 구속된 조종사에 대해서는 일시적인 비행금지 대신 면허를 취소함으로써 비행을 영원히 금지해야 한다고 주장했다.
항공운송협회가 정부에 강력한 조치를 요청하고 나선 것은 두 달 새 라이온에어 조종사 2명이 잇따라 마약 혐의로 구속되는 등 문제가 끊이지 않고 있기 때문이다.
수마트라 동부 수라바야 경찰은 지난 4일 한 호텔에서 메스암페타민(일명 히로뽕) 0.4ｇ을 가지고 있던 라이온에어 조종사 샤이풀 살람(44)을 체포했다고 밝혔다.
샤이풀은 비행을 불과 2시간 앞둔 상태였으며, 검사에서 마약 양성 반응이 나왔다.
이에 앞서 지난달 10일에는 남부 술라웨시 마카사르의 한 호텔에서 라이언에어 하눔 아이약사 조종사가 메스암페타민을 가지고 있다가 체포됐다.
항공운송협회 텡구 사무총장은 "이들 사건은 항공기 조종사를 포함해 누구나 마 약 사용자가 될 수 있음을 보여준다"며 "마약은 국가적인 문제"라고 지적했다.
그는 또 "이는 공공의 안전과 관련된 문제로 마약으로 인한 항공사고를 원치 않 는다"며 "면허 취소와 항공사 요주의 인물 등재 등 엄격한 처벌만이 마약 확산을 막아줄 것"이라고 덧붙였다.
국회 교통•운송 담당 상임위원회의 무하마드 아르와니 토마피 의원은 이런 사건들이 왜 계속 일어나는지 모르겠다며 교통부장관과 라이온에어 경영진을 소환해 원인과 대책을 따질 것이라고 말했다.
