Garuda Indonesia Reacts to Death of Passenger on Route to Fiji

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - One passenger on a charter flight of Garuda Indonesia GA 8820 with the route of New Delhi - Batam - Merauke - Fiji reportedly died on Tuesday, June 30. Garuda CEO Irfan Setiaputra asserted that the company had carried out procedures for the handling of dead passengers onboard under the applicable regulations.

“A Fijian passenger died after experiencing shortness of breath and had received first aid or oxygen from the cabin crew,” said Irfan in a written statement on Thursday, June 2.

The passenger, he underlined, had carried out the swab Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test before taking the flight, and that turned out negative for Covid-19.

The passenger’s body was then evacuated when the plane was in transit at Hang Nadim Airport, Batam. The process was done thoroughly under the health measures with intensive coordination with the airport’s health authority.

Garuda Indonesia had also disinfected the aircraft cabin. As a preventive effort, all cabin crew on duty had passed swab tests in Galang Island Hospital, and the results came back negative. They were then asked to fly back to Jakarta and undergo necessary health protocols.

The GA 8820 flight departed from New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, June 30, at 21:45 local times, carrying 112 people from Fiji who were repatriated home. The flight then continued its trip from Batam on Wednesday, July 1, at 02:54 local times with different aircraft.

Read: Garuda Indonesia: Clarification on Positive-COVID-19 Passenger

HENDARTYO HANGGI