Increasing problems in Indonesian skies

Increasing problems in Indonesian skies

On Jan. 21, 1997, I was returning from Manila via Singapore on
Singapore Airlines (SQ164). Having enjoyed a routine flight, I
was busy preparing my papers for landing when the plane, a few
hundred feet from the ground, began to bank wildly from side to
side. One could sense a feeling of consternation among my fellow
passengers though no one spoke a word.

After a few seconds, the plane straightened out and we again
tried to land, when, for a second time, the plane rocked crazily
from side to side for several seconds. At that point fear took
hold. We did arrive at Soekarno-Hatta. And thankfully the pilot
deemed it necessary to give his passengers an explanation for
this decided scare.

All could understand from the intercom that another plane had
crossed our flight path and we had been caught in the turbulence.
How this happened twice, however, remained to be explained.

As a frequent business-class traveler, and a priority
passenger on Singapore Air (all over Asia and to Europe) I seek
further explanation of what happened over the airport that night.
If there are near misses in Jakarta I think the public and powers
that be have the right to know.

Name and address

known to the editor