As the Emirati airliner issues a statement informing that passenger and crew safety is priority number 1
By M.A. Egge
Somalilandsun- The stature of the country’s integrity on its simple procedural officialdom has been put into disrepute when a whole member of the cabinet not only threatened his colleague but, regardless of facts, went publicly to paint a bad picture for aviation handlers.
Public works minister clashed through the media with his aviation colleague when he was informed that the aviators could not bend rules.
According to our sister paper Dawan, issues arose when a passenger flouted flight rules and procedures and held back a FlyDubai plane for 70 minutes before she was removed off the craft.
The report says the lady who was with a child refused to seat where she was supposed to when asked by an air hostess, an issue that led to a commotion that finally made the flight captain to order the ejection of either the woman or the whole passengers if need be, and fly to Dubai empty.
The aviation minister Hon. Farhan Adan Heibe told the media that when they were confronted with the situation, they obviously opted for basic rules and procedures to take precedence and the problematic passenger had to be ejected.
Public works minister Hon. Ali M. Hassan also known as Marehan who went public about the incident gave an ode of a narrative which describes how he intervened, talked to both the captain and the minister to allow the passenger to proceed to her London journey and how he lastly had to disembark the plane in protest after the lady was ejected.
The aviation minister said that he did not know the reason why his colleague alighted from the plane in protest.
He said that Hon. Ali spoke to him hence threatened that he would disembark if the lady was not allowed to fly with the plane and that he would go public.
Hon. Farhan however retorted that there was no shame whatsoever in doing simple procedural duties as demanded by rules and regulations.
“I told him that if you (Ali Marehan) go to press there has been no misdeameanor (or shame) that has happened (other than the fact) that we are doing our regular procedural duties”, said Hon. Farhan.
The minister explained that the officials tasked with airport management stated clearly that the lady in question was rowdy and abusive hence the captain decided that he would not be able to take charge of her.
“When we were confronted by the captain’s requirement that the lady is ejected or the whole lot of the passengers disembark leaving an empty plane to take off, we naturally took the former as is regulated”, said the aviation minister.
The incident is indeed unprecedented in the country but officials should know better and not malign the country’s procedures.
“As you know the aviation industry is a sensitive one”, said Hon. Farhan.
The woman is reported to have refused to seat by the window.
Hon. Ali went to social media to register “dissatisfaction” when his wish of prevailing upon the flight captain or wanting regulations flouted was refused.
In the meantime the Emirati airliner one of the few international ones to ply the Hargeisa route responded to the saga with a statement in which it was explicitly informed that
“The safety of our passengers and crew is our priority and we expect the crew and fellow passengers to be treated with respect”
Below full statement released via the airliners website https://flydubai.africa-newsroom.com
Statement by Spokesperson of flydubai regarding offloading of a Passenger in Hargeisa
HARGEISA, Somaliland, August 25, 2017 – We are aware of the disruption onboard flydubai (flydubai.com) flight FZ 662 today, 25 August, from Hargeisa to Dubai.
The passenger did not accept the alternative seats offered by our trained cabin crew and subsequently did not continue her travel to Dubai.
We are currently investigating further with all parties involved
The safety of our passengers and crew is our priority and we expect the crew and fellow passengers to be treated with respect.
We apologise to all the passengers onboard today’s flight for the inconvenience caused by the delay.
We are currently investigating further with all parties involved.
Background information:
Flight number FZ 662 from HGA to DXB
Total delay 1 hr 39 minutes
related Somaliland: Inaugural flydubai Flight Launches a Direct Service to Hargeisa