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Malaysia Airlines has clarified that the Malaysian pilot arrested in Indonesia over alleged drug trafficking was not operating the aircraft at the time of the incident, addressing one of the biggest questions surrounding the case
In a statement today, 7 August, its parent company Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) said the individual was travelling in the cockpit jump seat as an observer and was not one of the aircraft's operating pilots.
MAG also revealed that he had been off duty for two days before the incident.
"The aircraft was operated safely at all times by two qualified operating pilots," MAG said.
The clarification comes after Indonesian authorities arrested the Second Officer at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, where they allegedly discovered around 25kg of illicit drugs concealed inside his luggage.
MAG says the alleged actions do not reflect its pilots
While stressing that flight safety was never compromised, MAG said it viewed the individual's alleged conduct as completely unacceptable.
"The actions of the individual are completely unacceptable and contrary to the professional standards expected of our personnel," the airline said.
MAG President and Group Chief Executive Officer Captain Nasaruddin A Bakar said operational safety remains the airline group's highest priority.
"Operational safety and crew fitness for duty are non-negotiable at MAG.
"We take any breach of our safety standards seriously and have acted swiftly to enhance mandatory drug screening across our active pilots."
He added that although the incident involved a single employee, it did not reflect the professionalism of the vast majority of the group's workforce.
MAG has also announced stricter drug screening after the arrest
Alongside the clarification, MAG announced it has begun mandatory drug screening for all 1,260 Malaysia Airlines pilots.
It said the first phase of testing is expected to be completed by 15 August, and pilots who fail to complete the screening by then will not be rostered to operate flights until they have been cleared.
MAG also said it will strengthen its existing drug-testing programme by introducing mandatory screening for all active pilots before expanding the measures to cabin crew.
The announcement follows the arrest of the Malaysia Airlines pilot in Indonesia, where authorities are investigating alleged drug trafficking offences while Malaysian authorities continue investigating how the luggage passed through Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
