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 government to immediately audit the management of the airline.
“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.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com
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