Indonesian pilot grounded for ‘offering hostess as compensation’ By AFP

An Indonesian airline has grounded a pilot after he
allegedly offered an air hostess to passengers as
compensation for a delay on a flight to the resort
island of Bali.
Loud moaning sounds were also heard from the
cockpit throughout the Lion Air flight, with one
passenger left so shocked that he lodged a
complaint about improper behaviour with the
transport ministry.
The passenger, Lambertus Maengkom, said that as
the plane took off late from Java island, the co-pilot
jokingly announced over the PA system that he was
offering a female, divorced flight attendant to
passengers to make up for the delay.
“We want to ask whether it is standard procedure,
applied by [authorities], to make Lion Air pilots
offer a divorced flight attendant to passengers,
repeatedly, over the microphone?” Maengkom said
in his complaint.
The co-pilot, who has not been named, also loudly
wished one of the other crew members “happy
birthday” over the PA system during the flight on
Saturday, it said.
“It was not funny at all, it was dangerous,”
Maengkom said, adding that angry passengers had
questioned whether the co-pilot was sober and
unsuccessfully sought to confront him when the
plane landed.
The incident sparked widespread media coverage
in Indonesia and prompted Lion Air, the country’s
biggest low-cost carrier, to launch an internal
inquiry.
Reporting the results of an initial probe late
Wednesday, Lion Air announced the co-pilot was
being grounded, and investigations were
continuing.
“The co-pilot has been grounded and banned from
flying,” Lion Air general affairs director Edward
Sirait said in a statement.
He did not comment on the air hostess allegation in
his statement but insisted the co-pilot was not
intoxicated, and that the sounds coming from the
cockpit were nothing untoward.
“The co-pilot sounded like he was panting, that’s
how he normally talks. The mic was too close to his
lips so when he breathed or talked, it sounded like
moaning,” Sirait said.