Hit by wine bottle

I was flying Philippines Airlines PR305 from Manila to Jakarta on Aug. 18 in B2 row of its business class. During the flight, an accident happened when another passenger was trying to get his briefcase out of the overhead luggage compartment above my seat. I was asleep when a duty-free bottle of wine hit my forehead. I felt dizzy but I was lucky that the bottle did not break into pieces.

I was very disappointed with the PR cabin crew because:

1. According to international passenger safety regulations, they should have made an announcement to all passengers that opening an overhead luggage compartment during the flight might injure other passengers. (They made the announcement after the accident).

2. The cabin crew should have checked all items stored in the overhead luggage compartment. The loose bottle should have been stored elsewhere.

3. The cabin crew did not understand the word "ice pack" when I asked them for one to compress my swollen forehead. I had to show them how to make one out of a hand towel and ice cubes.

4. Worse, the cabin crew tried to pretend that nothing had happened. They were whispering to each other while looking at me but they did not make any apology. Everyone knew it was their mistake for not following safety regulations.

I ruled out my friend's advice to sue PR because the doctor said it was only a minor swelling. All I would like to say is that it was my first and is going to be my last experience flying PR business class.

RAMSEY R. OMAR

Bogor, West Java