A ground handling officer at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport allegedly got slapped by a government official who missed his flight on Wednesday after the politician was too late for boarding.
East Nusa Tenggara Regional Legislative Councilman (DPRD) Abdul Kadir Hasan, 47, was detained by airport police for questioning after the incident, according to a spokesman from Lion Air.
“The (DPRD member) had been detained by airport police. We from the airline have provided legal counsel to the victim,” Lion Air spokesman Danang Mandala Prihantoro told Tribun Bali on Wednesday evening.
The incident went down when Hasan arrived at gate five of the domestic departures terminal, intending to board Lion Air flight JT 746 to Makassar, Sulawesi.
Hasan arrived to the gate after boarding and was told by ground handling officer I Dewa Gede Adi Saputra, 23, that the gate had already been closed.
“At that time, it was too late to board and the door of the plane had already been closed and was in takeoff position. So he could not board.
“Then the passenger slapped our officer,” Prihantoro explained.
Ngurah Rai Airport spokesman Arie Ahsanurrohim separately confirmed the incident on Wednesday evening and said the case was “still being processed by airport police.”
But even though the airport police did get involved over the incident, a subsequently released interview with Hasan has the man claiming that the matter has already been resolved, amicably.
“It’s finished. Everything was resolved amicably with the officer earlier. I was taken immediately to the Ngurah Rai Airport police station for inspection. But it’s been settled,” Hasan told Tribun Bali over the phone on Wednesday night.
The politician told the newspaper that he had been traveling to Makassar on business and admitted to getting upset when he was told he couldn’t board the plane.
