Safety on flights

While flying to Denpasar from Dili on May 1 with Merpati, none of the crew announced, as they should, that mobile phones or other electronic devices cannot be used during the flight.

While flying over Lombok, a mobile phone started ringing and a person seated a few rows in front of me received SMS messages.

The crew did not intervene and I had to shout to this guy to switch off his phone since nobody around him seemed to care.

When we eventually and, thank God, safely landed in Denpasar, I asked the crew why they did not intervene and the answer I got was of an unacceptable dismissive nature.

I tried to contact the security officers below the plane but they too started smiling, or worse, laughing at my request, and tried to dismiss the case as not being important. They were apparently surprised that I was concerned with this very superficial and inexcusable attitude.

The case dragged on inside the arrival hall where I again tried to find the security personnel in charge but nobody seemed to care about my request. The case became extremely worrying when the captain almost physically attacked me while shouting that I should not dare criticize his crew.

Instead of asking for forgiveness for the inexcusable behavior of his crew, he pointed his finger very close to my face, while shouting and assuming a position such as that of a man ready to assault someone.

Well, I am ready to accept any kind of intimidation from anyone, especially in the case of a clear breach of international regulations regarding the safety of passengers on board commercial flights.

The superficial and dismissive attitude of the crew should be followed up by the Merpati management in earnest and their conclusions should be made public.

GIUSEPPE VERDACCHI Denpasar, Bali