Passenger manifest cock-up sparks anger, confusion

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Legislator Antarini Malik received warm congratulations from her fellow colleagues at the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The legislators thought that she was one of the victims of the Mandala Airlines plane crash on Monday.

"Thank you, I am safe," she said, adding that she would have a ceremony (syukuran) to thank God for her life.

Antarini, the daughter of the country's former vice president Adam Malik, was not a passenger of the ill-fated aircraft. But, her family, friends and colleagues thought that she was one of the victims as her name appeared on television based on the passenger manifest released by Mandala after the crash, in which 103 passengers and crew died.

"I flew with Adam Air at 9:30 a.m. I had already arrived in Jakarta when the accident took place. I don't know why somebody used my name as (a passenger of) the Mandala plane. The management is awful," she asserted.

Antarini did book a seat on the Mandala flight. However, she could not get a ticket upon arrival at the airport, so she decided to fly with Adam Air instead.

The opposite happened to Jose Christopel Hutagalung. The father of one child was a dead victim of the crash, but his name did not appear in the manifest.

One of his relatives said that the 28-year-old used a ticket, which was booked for somebody named Miftah. He was forced to buy the ticket from one of the ubiquitous middlemen at Polonia Airport.

Jose had earlier come to Medan to get the high school graduation certificate of his brother, needed for enrollment at the Bandung's Padjajaran University.

His relatives, who took him to the airport, phoned his parents in Tarutung, North Sumatra and told his mother that Jose was a passenger with Mandala. Attempts to contact his cellular phone were not successful.

His mother, his wife and his brother, who arrived at the crash site later, recognized his body from his teeth and blood type.

The management of Mandala admitted the problem with the manifest as it did not provide accurate information on the names of the passengers.

Acting director of Mandala, Maj. Gen. Asril Tanjung said that his office would investigate.

"Difficult...it's difficult. It is supposed to be more organized. Maybe there is such a weakness, we will fix it," he told The Jakarta Post at the crash site.

Asril, however, said that such problems also occurred with other flights as some passengers who booked or bought tickets could decide to cancel their flight and give the tickets to other people.

Such a move, he said, should not be done as it violates flight administration regulations.

Asril insisted, however, that the problem with the manifests were not a reflection of poor administration at Mandala.