Plane leaves without Sarwono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): If Garuda Indonesia once complained about senior
\ngovernment officials keeping Garuda flights from leaving on time,
\nMinister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja now has a bone to
\npick with the flag carrier: It left him on the tarmac of the
\nSoekarno-Hatta airport.<\/p>\n
As reported by Antara, Sarwono failed to take off yesterday on
\na Singapore-bound Garuda flight, although he had checked in on
\ntime.<\/p>\n
The minister, who was to attend a meeting of environmental
\nministers of Southeast Asian countries grouped in the Association
\nof Southeast Asian Nations, told Antara he arrived at the airport
\nat 5:40 a.m. for a flight that was to leave at 6:10.<\/p>\n
Sarwono said he had his boarding pass torn by an airport
\nofficer, and then proceeded to the VIP lounge in Terminal I.<\/p>\n
\"I was waiting for the boarding announcement,\" he said. \"An
\nofficer came to escort me to a bus to take me to Terminal II,
\nwhere the plane was supposed to be waiting. But when we got
\nthere, the plane was already at the end of the runway.\"<\/p>\n
Antara did not say if Sarwono was angry, but described him as
\n\"pacing up and down\" as he spoke to the reporter waiting for the
\nnext plane. He was put on the next available flight to Singapore,
\na Singapore Airlines flight that left at 7:30 a.m.<\/p>\n
Garuda chief spokesman Jansius Siahaan was not available to
\ncomment on the incident, but a staff member said the airline was
\nnow investigating into this embarrassing incident.<\/p>\n
\"We regret that this happened,\" the officer said, who asked
\nfor anonymity because he was not authorized to make statements.<\/p>\n
Preliminary checks indicated that the radio of the escorting
\nofficer at the VIP lounge \"was not working well\", that he missed
\nthe repeated calls for boarding. As with standard procedures, the
\ncall was made least three times, the Garuda PR officer said.<\/p>\n
\"But the bus taking Pak Sarwono arrived at 6:10. By then, the
\nair traffic controller had already given the plane clearance for
\ntake-off,\" he said. He confirmed that it normally takes about
\nfive minutes to travel from Terminal I to Terminal II, but he
\ncould not say what time the bus arrived to pick up the minister.<\/p>\n
Antara quoted an airport official as saying that the mistake
\nwas with ground officers who did not check the names of
\npassengers already on board. (anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/plane-leaves-without-sarwono-1447893297",
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