Ministry Of Transportation Handover Suspect In Hot Air Balloon Flight Case To Prosecutor

The Directorate General of Air Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation through the Civil Aviation Investigator carried out the handover of suspects and evidence of two cases of free hot air balloon flights that occurred in 2021. Prosecutor's Office/ANTARA HO

JAKARTA - The Directorate General of Air Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation through the Civil Aviation Investigator has handed over the suspects and evidence of two cases of free hot air balloon flights that occurred in 2021 to the Public Prosecutor of the Wonosobo District Attorney and the Ponorogo District Attorney's Office.

"This decisive action is proof of the seriousness of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in handling cases of perpetrators who flew hot air balloons freely without following the applicable rules," said Plt. Director General of Civil Aviation Nur Isnin Istiartono in a written statement quoted by Antara, Friday, June 17.

Nur Isnin emphasized that there is no tolerance and leniency for parties that endanger flight safety.

According to him, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has commitment and consistency in overseeing and supervising the implementation of flight operations so that they continue to run safely, safely and comfortably.

In line with that, Director of Aviation Security F. Budi Prayitno explained that the Civil Aviation Investigative Team had worked hard in handling this case up to the stage 2 process of handing over suspects and evidence.

"For this reason, if we identify forms of violations that can endanger flight safety as mandated by Law No. 1 of 2009 concerning Aviation, then we are ready to support law enforcement without exception, so that there is a deterrent effect for the public and is aware of the dangers caused," said Budi Prayitno.

The handover of the suspect and evidence at the two locations was a follow-up after it was declared that the two case files were complete by the Deputy Attorney General for General Crimes at the AGO.

Officially, the Investigating Team for the Wonosobo case and the Investigating Team for the Ponorogo case have handed over three suspects to the Wonosobo Prosecutor's Office and five suspects to the Ponorogo Prosecutor's Office along with evidence to the Public Prosecutor.

As regulated in Article 411 of Law Number 1 of 2009 concerning Aviation, anyone who endangers the safety of aircraft, passengers and goods, and/or residents or harms property belonging to others will be sentenced to a maximum imprisonment of 2 (two) years. and a maximum fine of Rp. 500,000,000 (five hundred million rupiah).

The tradition of flying hot air balloons is carried out by the community in several areas such as Wonosobo, Pekalongan, Ponorogo, Madiun, Semarang, and several other areas in Central and East Java when entering the month of Shawwal, usually carried out near the end of the month of Ramadan, right on Eid al-Fitr until the end of the month of Ramadhan. +7 or when celebrating Eid Syawal.

Hot air balloons that are not tethered or fly wild and free at a certain height are very dangerous for flight safety and security, such as disrupting flight traffic, sucking balloons into the aircraft engine, blocking the pilot's view, covering the fuselage and paralyzing the aircraft's steering system.

Not only that, if the hot air balloon is flown by adding firecrackers and other flammable objects it can endanger the lives of residents, houses, public facilities such as the PLN network and gas stations.