An Indonesian pilot who stumbled through airport security and repeatedly dropped his belongings before making a slurred announcement to his 154 passengers from the cockpit has been fired, officials said on Saturday.
The CEO of budget airline Citilink, a subsidiary of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, had also offered his resignation to take responsibility for the incident.
YouTube footage showed 32-year-old pilot Tekad Purna staggering through a metal detector at airport security and dropping his bag and belongings several times after arriving late for his flight on Wednesday from the city of Surabaya to the capital Jakarta.
After hearing a garbled and slurred announcement from the cockpit, scared passengers reported the pilot, accusing him of being drunk or on drugs. The flight took off later with a new pilot but several of the passengers decided to cancel.
“The result of the investigation so far is sufficient for our management to take a firm decision and fire the pilot,” Citilink spokesman Benny Siga Butarbutar told a foreign media agency on Saturday. “In the aviation industry, we believe in zero mistakes.”
The airline had yet to establish if the pilot was under the influence of drink or drugs but Citilink said his conduct was serious enough to merit dismissal on the grounds of endangering passenger safety.
During a press conference late Friday announcing the pilot’s dismissal, Citilink CEO Albert Burhan also tendered his resignation.
The airline’s spokesman said the company had yet to decide whether to accept Burhan’s resignation.
Indonesia has a poor aviation safety record and has experienced several air disasters in recent years.
