In May 2001 the now President of East Timor was late for an RPT service DIL/DRW on a Friday evening. The Metro crew had finalised the paperwork & were ready to depart when (out of sight of checkin but not out of ear shot) they heard the "this plane will not leave without me'' demand. They looked at each other & said "it just did" before departing without further delay.
Obviously not having learned his lesson, the same scenario happens again the next day when he was rebooked on the Bras. for the same sector. The pax was nowhere near the airport at the ETD so the flight duly departed which meant that he missed attending the opening ceremony of the Arafura Games.
The media's version of events differed slightly with the NT News accusing the ''mean spirited" Captain of leaving a folorn XG behind on the tarmac as he watched the plane take off without him.....
Turns out that the anonymous article was written by none other than the ex Channel 10/9/7/2 & now SBS 'perfumed steamroller'.
Definitely a case of why let the facts get in the way of a good story.
