While many Indonesians consider durian’s heavenly deliciousness to outweigh its notorious stinkiness, not all people feel that way, which is why some establishments, like hotels, ban the king of fruits from their premises.
Durian is allowed to be transported as plane cargo in Indonesia, however, provided it is placed in airtight packaging. But whatever a load of durian on a recent Sriwijaya Air flight was packed in, it seemed no match for the fruit’s pungent odor, leading to a big stink by passengers.
As told in a viral Facebook post by a user named Amir Zidane, he and other passengers were boarding a Sriwijaya Air plane bound for Jakarta from Bengkulu on Monday morning when he caught a whiff of stinky durian, which was compounded by the humidity inside the cabin as he thought the AC was switched off at the time.
Amir brought the odorous matter to the attention of a crew member, who ensured him that the smell will vanish as soon as they were in the air. Unsatisfied with that response, he says he succeeded in rallying other passengers to angrily complain about the smell, refusing to fly unless the durian was taken off the plane.
After some wrangling, the flight crew eventually agreed to unload the durian while the passengers disembarked and were told to return to the boarding lounge. Amir claims a ground crew officer told him that the plane was carrying three tons of durian in its cargo.
https://www.facebook.com/amirzidane/posts/1893402847376011
According to Amir, the passengers returned to the plane soon after and it took off at 12:05 pm, a little over an hour after its initial scheduled departure time of 10:50 am. The plane arrived in Jakarta at 1 pm.
Sriwijaya Air confirmed the incident, but disputed the claim that the plane was carrying three tons of durian.
“It must be known that three tons was the total approximate weight of the whole cargo, which included the durian. And that number was still far below the MTOW (maximum take off weight),” Sriwijaya Air Corporate Communications Senior Manager Retri Maya told Kompas today.
Retri also said that durian is allowed to be checked in on Sriwijaya Air flights provided that they’re packaged properly, but that the airline’s crew decided to unload the durian as it compromised passengers’ comfort.
