Now, everyone cannot fly

WARNING: LENGTHY POST

Malaysians are one cool lot. At least the lot that was on board Air Asia Flight AK6351 en route to JB. Yesterday morning.

The flight was supposed to leave LCCT at 8:15am. But, it was delayed. We boarded the air craft at departure time. Not 10 minutes after that, the intercom buzzed and the co-pilot's voice filled the cabin. After greeting the passenger and informing the captain's name, he said, "We have found a bomb on the plane."

It was anti-climatic. People went quiet for a while and then as if on a mark, started talking. The co-pilot was still talking and asked the passengers to follow the stewardesses' instructions. They asked us to evacuate the plane row by row. Of course everyone wanted to get off the plane first, but thankfully clearer minds were at work, and we managed to disembark without any mishap. We were instructed to stand about 50 metres away from the plane. Few minutes after that, they decided we should all be inside the boarding hall again. Well, okay.

So we walked back to boarding hall. Some of us went to the washrooms, some went to buy drinks and some just walked around. Most had their mobile phone close to the cheek. Grapevine told us that a lady found a note (paper cutting) on the seat, which said that there's a bomb on the plane. (my reaction: ahhhh... so they haven't found the bomb yet...) This was at about 8:30am.

Few minutes after that, Air Asia ground crew started to distribute complimentary snack packs. Some of the passengers were trying to get actual happenings from the officer. I applaud the crew for being able to answer questions/queries/grumbles with smile. In the mean time, the suspected plane... they towed the plane about 500 metres away from the boarding hall. Not long after that, clearer mind prevail and they decided to tow it far, far away. So we waited.

Passengers are still walking around. Talking on the phone. Reading news paper. Go shoe shopping. (There's one Carlo Rino's outlet there. Nice shoes...)

Almost an hour after that, the ground crew started to put the 'barrier' to separate flight AK6351 passengers from the other Air Asia passengers. Ahhh... quarantine. Finally. One ground crew was equipped with Sony video camera (not sure which model), apparently filming everyone. (Much later I found out he got scolded by one of the passenger... "Ehh.. Why you take my picture?")

There were no security cameras, old CCTV type or mordern orb-like, in the hall. Hmm...

At 10 am they announced that the new departure time would be at 11:05. Everyone breathed sigh of relieved. Of course by this time, half of the passengers are already late for morning appointment, children are getting hungry too. Hey... they were promised McDonalds on arrival...

At 10:15 they informed us that we need to identify our luggage and collect our hand carry. So we boarded the airport coach at 10:20am and off we go for a tour around LCCT. We were determine to enjoy this experience as we see other passengers walking to and from Air Asia air crafts. We're getting special treatment, you see... We finally saw our suspected plane. Towed at the end of the airport, pass the MAS and Air Asia hangar. Which is about... 200 metres away from the reserved fuel tank, boasting MAS and Petronas logoes. Wonderful. If the plane should exploded, the whole area will be a huge firework show. We're in for a treat.

Our luggage was lined on one area and our hand luggage at another group. I pointed my luggage, the strong security uncle picked it up and asked if I'm sure it's mine, I said yeah. He said okay and put it on the truck. I proceeded to go and search for my hand carry. Saw my document bag, quickly retrieved it, feeling accomplished. One man, a passenger, with video camera wanted to take picture/video of what's going on, but was immediately told not to by the security officers. Tough luck, some of the passengers were clicking away with their camera phones. Did I mention there were bomb squad trucks, a control centre truck, etc. The whole crew. It was a circus.

We boarded the coach to go back to the terminal. (Outside I saw the officers/officials congratulating each other. I assumed they've actually found the bomb and managed to disarm it?) On arrival they informed us that we need walk through the metal detector again, and put our hand carry luggage for scanning again. We almost went down the coach when we were informed the police needed us to use the main entrance and come in from the front. So we "joyfully" got off from the couch when it stopped at the front entrance. As if we're one big convoy, travelling together.

We marched to the check in gate again, showed our boarding passes again, lined up for the scanning again. Full body check. It was the same procedure we went through when we first checked in. No difference. Except that by this time around most of the passengers do not really have a smile on the face anymore. Ooohhh... the body search... I almost laughed because I felt so geli geleman.

We went back to the boarding hall and waited. We boarded a new craft at 12:05 (one hour later than the mentioned departure time). And waited. It was 12:20pm and they were loading our double-scanned luggage onto the plane. Great. The plane took off at 12:30 pm and reached Senai approximately 30 minutes after that.

Earlier that morning; my conversation with my Project Manager, who was waiting at Senai aiport, at 8:30am.

Jade: Boss, our flight is delayed.
PM: Oh.. okay. Nemine, I wait.
Jade: There's a bomb scare.
PM: Bullshit. (Laughing)
Jade: A lady found a note on the seat.
PM: You don't play with me leh.. (Laughing harder)
Jade: Cehhh!! I'm serious!! Now we're waiting for them to do investigation. They towed the plane away already.
PM: Walaw. Okay lah.. okay lah.. I wait.
Jade: Are you sure? You don't want to go to customer's office first? I don't know how long we'll be stuck here.
PM: Nemine. Nemine. I wait for you.
Jade: Oh.. Okay then. I'll keep you informed.
PM: You sure, bomb meh? (worried tone)
Jade: I'm sure it's just a prank. (Laughing). I'll talk to you soon.
PM: Ok. Bye.

That ends my episode, where initially Everyone Can Fly, then Everyone Cannot Fly, then Everyone can Fly Again. I was thankful when the plane touched down in Senai safely. And it was a very, very smooth landing too. And... I'm still alive to blog.

P/S: I would've thought Malaysia Airport would already have a standard operating procedure for cases like this. It's been almost five years since September 11. By the way, I understand it's a low cost terminal, but will that also mean low security level as well? The LCCT is a far cry from the 'posh' KLIA main terminal. It's hundred steps backwards. Eh... Do something can or not? Embarassing lah... There were foreigners on board as well, should we be hypocrites and pretended the whole drama was handled well? Just out of Malaysia Boleh spirit? Come on... we're not that dumb. Right? Or not?