Irate passengers take Batavia crew hostage<\/p>\n
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya<\/p>\n
At least 31 angry passengers held several crew members of a
\nBatavia Air airplane hostage here after their flight to Jakarta
\nwas delayed for around nine hours at Juanda Airport until Friday
\nmorning.<\/p>\n
Rudy Herlambang, one of the protesters, said the passengers
\nhad to take action because Batavia broke its promise and tried to
\ndeliberately cancel the flight as fewer than half of the plane's
\n100 seats were filled.<\/p>\n
"We were forced to do that because Batavia Air sought reasons
\nto delay the plane's departure," he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Batavia staffers at the airport said the delay was due to a
\ntechnical problem with the plane's wheels.<\/p>\n
The flight was scheduled to leave Surabaya at 8:30 p.m. on
\nThursday night, but until 11 p.m. it remained uncertain when the
\nplane was to depart.<\/p>\n
This made the ill-fated passengers more frustrated and they
\ndemanded a direct meeting with Batavia's Surabaya manager Dedy
\nRudianto.<\/p>\n
The passengers later held three female flight attendants and
\ntwo security guards hostage by preventing them from leaving the
\nwaiting room along with them.<\/p>\n
"We seized a cellular phone and a wristwatch from one of the
\nsecurity guards as collateral, while we told him to find Dedy,"
\nRudy said.<\/p>\n
Hours later, Dedy appeared to meet the passengers who then
\nangrily voiced their grievances.<\/p>\n
Rudy said several of the passengers tried to beat Dedy and
\ndamage Batavia's facilities, but eventually refrained from
\nventing their anger as the manager assured them that a plane was
\nto arrive soon.<\/p>\n
Dedy also offered the passengers an overnight stay at a hotel
\nbefore their departure on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
But the offer failed to console them. "You think we could not
\nafford to pay to stay in a hotel? The point is that we want to
\nleave for Jakarta now," yelled another passenger as quoted by
\nRudy.<\/p>\n
Amid the heated debate, the passengers wrote a letter
\ncomplaining about the poor service they received from Batavia
\nAir.<\/p>\n
"Through the letter we will sue Batavia Air for Rp 500 million
\n(US$58,823) in compensation over the delay," Rudy said. It was
\nnot immediately clear if they were serious about taking legal
\naction against the airline.<\/p>\n
Eventually, the stranded passengers left on Friday morning
\naboard a Batavia Air plane that had just arrived from Pontianak,
\nWest Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
"The plane scheduled to depart at 8:30 p.m on Thursday
\neventually left at 5:30 a.m. on Friday," Batavia's check-in
\ncounter officer Anita said.<\/p>\n
She denied the incident was a hostage-taking drama at the
\nwaiting room, saying it was merely a case of "misunderstanding".<\/p>\n
Dedy could not be reached for comment.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/irate-passengers-take-batavia-crew-hostage-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }