Nufam: Beef up preventive security procedures for flights
9 March 2018 Print page
Union president Ismail Nasaruddin says cabin crew are not trained like commandos and are inadequately equipped to deal with hostile situations during flights
PETALING JAYA: The National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) has cautioned aviation authorities to not rely on cabin crew alone in dealing with security threats during commercial passenger flights.
Its president, Ismail Nasaruddin, said the crew were trained with just basic knowledge to deal with hostile situations.
“The ‘leave it to the cabin crew’ attitude should be erased as we are talking about prevention,” he said.
He said the authorities should work to minimise incidents on flight and not act on them only later.
He said placing extra security officials near the aircraft door was essential to carry out profiling of passengers.
“There is also a need for a proper enforcement officer or air marshal (on flight) if a situation like this keeps happening.”
He was referring to a recent incident on board a Malindo Air flight in which a Bangladeshi man had stripped naked, masturbated while watching porn on his laptop and physically assaulted a crew member.
He was later restrained and his hands tied behind his back, with the help of passengers. He has since been admitted for observation to a mental hospital in Dhaka.
Ismail said the all-female crew, such as that on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Dhaka on March 3, may not stand a chance of containing a violent or hostile situation without the help of other male passengers.
“They are not like trained commandos who can throw blows and flying kicks,” he said in a statement.
“The crew members are not even equipped with defensive equipment like batons or truncheons,” he added.
He was responding to former Malaysia Airlines aviation security officer Khen Han Ming’s comment earlier this week countering Nasaruddin’s suggestion for authorities not to depend on an airplane’s crew.
The principal security consultant at JK Associates had said that on-board crew were trained to handle such scenarios.
“I would like to remind Nufam that handling disruptive passengers is also one of the most basic elements of any cabin crew training programme,” Khen had said.
“They have regular refresher training on this and every flight is equipped with restraint kits for such incidents.”
Ismail said although the crew were trained to counter acts of hijacking and handling of bombs during flights, such training was just basic.
“Perhaps we could invite him (Khen) to see for himself how intensive such training is,” he said.
Ismail also said Nufam had recently submitted a request to relevant civil aviation authorities to review the safety and security aspects of every airline.
“We will continue to urge the authorities to look into the safety of the crew members,” he said.
“Malindo Air needs to step up its safety efforts and help prevent its female crew from becoming helpless during any crisis,” he added.
Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/03/08/nufam-beef-up-preventive-security-procedures-for-flights/