Passenger manifest cock-up sparks anger, confusion

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.