The Ministry Of Transportation Is Investigating The Case Of Passenger Beatings On Turkish Airlines Aircraft

Illustration of Turkish Airlines aircraft. (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) through the Directorate General of Civil Aviation continues to investigate the alleged incident that occurred on the Turkish Airlines TK-56 Turkish route (Istanbul) Jakarta (Soekarno Hatta) registration TC-LJG on Tuesday, October 11, 2022.

Plt. Director General of Civil Aviation, Nur Isnin Istiartono said that the Ministry of Transportation had received reports and data from various parties including Turkish Airlines airline and passengers involved in the incident.

The Ministry of Transportation has received an explanation from Turkish Airline through a letter from Turkish Airlines Station Manager at Soekarno Hatta Airport. We have also received an attachment of documents supporting the incident, and will continue to investigate, "said Nur Isnin in Jakarta as reported by Antara, Sunday.

He conveyed that the Ministry of Transportation had carried out internal coordination led by the Expert Staff for the Sector of Safety and Connectivity of Transportation, and was attended by the Legal Bureau, the Directorate of Aviation Security, the Directorate of Airworthiness and Aircraft Operations and the Head of the Medan Regional II Airport Authority Office.

He said, from the reports and information received, there were allegations of an unruly passenger on a Turkish Airlines flight starting from complaints from passengers (suspected perpetrators on behalf of M. Jhon Jaiz Budewijn) who asked about the provisions for bringing pets (pets) into the aircraft cabin.

Because the complaint had not received a response, the alleged perpetrator then showed behavior that disturbed the comfort of passengers and cabin crew during the flight, until finally it was secured because it caused a commotion on the plane.

In this incident, Turkish Airlines took forced action against passengers suspected of carrying out an unruly passenger at Kualanamu Airport.

According to Turkish Airlines, the action was taken so as not to endanger flight safety and security as well as the comfort of passengers and crew on board.

However, with the provision of bringing pets (pets) into the aircraft cabin, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will continue to explore the provisions of the regulations in force at Turkish Airlines.

"Whether the passengers carrying pets into the aircraft cabin have met the requirements set by the airline, and how to supervise the crew during the flight," he said.

For this reason, as a follow-up, the Aviation Inspector of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will explore related to safety and the transportation of pets in the aircraft cabin.

He revealed, based on the results of discussions, it was also agreed that this incident was an incident related to airline services with passengers, so it was not included in the criminal realm according to the jurisdiction of the State of Indonesia based on the 1963 Tokyo Convention (Convention on Officials and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft), as stated in Article 3 of the 1963 Tokyo Convention stipulates that the country that has the right to carry out jurisdictions against criminal acts is the country where the aircraft is registered.

Given that Turkish Airlines aircraft registration of TC-LJG is registered in Turkey, the jurisdiction in effect is Turkey's state jurisdiction.

Nur Isnin also emphasized to all airlines, both national and foreign airlines operating from/to Indonesia, to pay attention to the comfort of passengers, especially Indonesian citizens (WNI) on flights, so as not to cause a commotion that will have an impact on flight safety and security.