A passenger on Garuda Indonesia flight GA 716 from Jakarta to Melbourne on Friday passed away due to an unspecified health complication.
According to the airline, the passenger, an Indonesian national by the name of Lukman Susanto (66), went to the lavatory about an hour into the flight. He then complained of chest pains and difficulty breathing.
Lukman said he was feeling better after he was given the oxygen mask and was tended to by a nurse, who was also a passenger. But an hour later, Lukman’s condition suddenly worsened and he was pronounced dead by a doctor who was on board the flight.
The plane eventually landed in Melbourne and the Australian authorities are carrying out an investigation into Lukman’s death.
Aviation expert and Ombudsman official Alvin Lie said that the flight’s pilot could have violated emergency procedures. Considering that Lukman fell ill near the beginning of the flight, Alvin said that the pilot should have made an emergency landing so he could receive medical attention on land as opposed to continuing the plane’s journey to Melbourne.
“[The plane could’ve made an emergency landing] in Surabaya or maybe even gone back to Cengkareng (Jakarta),” he said, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
But Garuda Indonesia’s vice president of corporate communications, Benny Butarbutar, denied that there was any breach of emergency procedures as the pilot actually considered the emergency landing option before Lukman died.
“But [Lukman’s] condition was very critical and he passed away quickly,” Benny wrote in a statement, as picked up by Kompas.
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