Garuda crew apologize over Ecstasy scandal

Garuda crew apologize over Ecstasy scandal

JAKARTA (JP): An organization representing the air crew of
Garuda Indonesia has apologized to the management and passengers
for the alleged involvement of a colleague in trafficking Ecstasy
on flight GA 987 from Amsterdam to Jakarta on Sept. 29.

Shadrach M.N., the chairman of Garuda's Communication Forum,
said yesterday that the forum's members were shocked and "deeply
regretted" the incident in which a fellow pilot, identified as
Mohammad Said, is suspected of trafficking 8,000 Ecstasy pills.

In a press release Shadrach said Garuda's air crews hoped that
planned tightened supervision of pilots in airports following the
incident at Schipol airport, "will not be exaggerated."

This, he said, is in view of an international convention
ruling air transport which confers certain privileges on pilots.

"The scrutinizing procedures toward pilots are already far
more strict than procedures toward passengers," Shadrach said.

The Forum further expressed its appreciation of the protest
launched by the Indonesian embassy in the Netherlands over the
police treatment of MS, "which was beyond tolerance." It also
called on all air crew "to maintain professionalism... and help
the government eliminate the trafficking of commodities which can
destroy the nation's morality and its young generation." (anr)