‘Spend the Minimum’: After Crash, Lion Air’s Safety Record Is Back in Spotlight
JAKARTA, Indonesia — The government safety inspector had spent all night at the Makassar airport, in eastern Indonesia, several years ago, poring over a Lion Air jet that had suffered a hydraulic failure. Telling airline employees that the plane was to be grounded until the problem was fixed, the inspector went back to a hotel for a quick shower.
When the inspector returned, the plane was on the runway, about to take off.
Furious, the inspector demanded that the passengers disembark. But a supervisor with Lion Air explained how the airline had gone over the inspector’s head: Federal transportation officials in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, had given permission for takeoff, the inspector said. The plane was in the air minutes later.