Foreign columnist pokes fun at RP aviation after EU ban

Barely had it recovered from the sting of a ban imposed by European Union ban when Philippine aviation got another whammy, this time from an Asian magazine’s humor columnist. The latest blow came from a humor article by Nury Vittachi, which came out on the April edition of Reader’s Digest. The implied that Philippine aviation officials are not serious in their job. According to Wikipedia, Vittachi is a Ceylonese journalist and author based in Hong Kong. His columns are published daily, weekly in a variety of newspapers in Asia as well as on his Web site. He is best known for the comedy-crime novel series The Feng Shui Detective, which published in many languages around the world.

In his Reader’s Digest article titled “I’d rather be chained," Vittachi told of an “enterprising captain" aboard an early morning flight over the Philippines who randomly pressed an unmarked button on the flight deck. When security forces ordered the pilot to dump 50,000 kilos of fuel and land at a remote airstrip, everything was supposedly forgiven when the pilot explained there was no hijacking. “(The) pilot explained that there were no hijackers – he had just pressed a button randomly. No doubt everyone had a laugh and went back to work," Vittachi’s article read. Vittachi also said that when the pilot’s action supposedly triggered a silent alarm to the nearest Philippine airport, “control tower staff snapped into action, dropping their adobo breakfasts." His article even poked fun at the name of Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) deputy chief for security Angel Atutubo. “Only in the Philippines can tough guys bristling with guns have names like ‘Angel,’ ‘Innocent’ and ‘Baby,’" he said. Vittachi’s article came out only a week after the European Union imposed an operating ban on Philippine air carriers that took effect April 1. The EU ban followed an audit of the Philippines carried out by the International Civil Aviation Organization in October 2009, after Philippine regulatory authorities could not verify that these airlines comply with international safety standards. As a result of the ban, the United Kingdom has advised its nationals to avoid flying Philippine carriers in visiting the Philippines. Flag-carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has said that its inclusion among carriers blocked from flying into the EU member countries was “unfortunate." It assured that the airline complies with international civil aviation safety standards.- KBK, GMANews.TV