Letters to the Editor: A scary landing due to duty negligence

Dear Editor,

THE Brunei Civil Aviation needs a wake-up call.

I was on board BI424 on November 11, 2012, from Singapore to Bandar Seri Begawan. The pilot announced the weather in Brunei was fair and clear prior to landing. But just before approaching to land, the plane slowed down as usual.

However, it then started to move from side to side and shook upwards and downwards. Once close to the ground, at the very last minute, we could hear the plane engines roar and it shot up into the sky like a rocket, abandoning the landing!

Amid more jolts and shakes, the pilot announced that he had not been updated about the very bad weather in Brunei.

Obviously, had he been informed earlier, a different approach to landing would have been applied. Alhamdulillah, due to the skill of the pilot and also the silent prayers of everybody on board, we could land safely.

The passengers were clearly shaken, especially women were seen still crying at the baggage collection area.

As a patron of Royal Brunei (RB) and the Brunei International Airport, I urge RB to seriously and urgently bring the matter to the Department of Civil Aviation, whose staff on duty on that particular night, were clearly negligent in their duty and responsibility in not advising the pilot about the poor weather condition.

Our flight was due to arrive at 11.15pm but due to the incident, which could have been avoided if duty and responsibility were exercised by the relevant department's staff, we arrived much later instead.

SG, BSB

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times