Financial Times

Germany has been full of smiles and welcome for visitors during the ongoing World Cup but it was a different ballgame for a group of unexpected guests – passengers of a SriLankan Airlines flight that made an emergency landing in Frankfurt.

“We were shabbily treated,” lamented one of the passengers, saying even SriLankan Airlines representatives were not on the ground to take care of them. Several angry passengers, who rejected the airline’s version of events issued by the Colombo office in a statement were preparing to send letters of protest to the airline over the episode.

Economy class passengers said from mid-day to 5 pm, they got nothing from the airline or airport authorities. The SriLankan Airlines crew were however taken to a hotel while passengers sweated it out – no water, no toilet!

The June 24 flight had taken off from London to Colombo at10.45 am and was carrying its full complement of passengers including many Sri Lankan expatriates from New York and Canada visiting family and friends.

Up in the skies, there was a problem with the cabin pressure and the pilot found that the emergency oxygen masks didn’t fall out automatically when that switch was on. He then decided to land the plane at Frankfurt airport.

After a safe landing, the passengers were taken to a room in the airport and told they would be informed of the status in 30 minutes. Subsequently the passengers, including children were not allowed to even go to the toilet due to strict immigration rules. That restriction even included Europeans.

“I was not allowed out despite having a British passport,” said an angry Tara Sassoon, a passenger who was going to Colombo to attend the wedding of a friend. “For a couple of hours we were not allowed to the toilet and when that happened, it was one-by-one with a German escort.”

She said from mid-day to 5 pm no meal was given, rejecting a statement from the airline that meals were provided subsequently.

Business class passengers were allowed into the business class lounge after repeated protests.

“The pilot did a wonderful job in bringing down the aircraft but there were no representatives of the airline to take care of the passengers,” business class passenger, Nawaz Rajabdeen, President of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FCCISL) said, adding that economy class passengers were treated like “refugees”.

“The Germans talk about human rights and fundamental rights but here there was abuse of the first order,” he said, pointing out that some of the passengers were foreign passport holders.

“Soon after we were herded into this room there was an announcement by the German Police saying engineers are now at work. We will notify in 30 minutes. Please note all passengers are confined to this room and there is no toilet facilities,” he quoted the announcement as saying, adding that it was a disgrace and “violation of our fundamental rights.”

Another passenger, Killi Mahendran, chairman of the Maharaja Group, was quoted as saying the response from SriLankan Airlines was totally false. “He told me he had written a note to the airline chairman (Harry Jayawardana) on this issue,” Rajabdeen said, adding that they didn’t get lunch coupons as claimed by the airline.

One of the passengers said there was very poor PR and communication at the Frankfurt airport. “At that moment the German authorities were also unaware about the representatives of the airlines,” she said adding that the German police and the authorities treated “us rudely and were not polite at all.”

She said almost everyone misplaced their baggages due to this incident and had to go back to the Colombo airport the next day to collect it.” “I think the German embassy should apologise for the way we were treated as common criminals.

We didn’t want to go to Germany: It was SriLankan that took us there,” she said angrily.

An official of the German Embassy in Colombo on Wednesday said they were unaware about the incident.. Asked why transit visas were needed at Frankfurt even if passengers were only at the airport to take a connecting flight to another destination (like in the case of the hapless SriLankan passengers), the official said this was a requirement to ensure that no passenger stays in Germany illegally. He said the transit visa was a common practice in many countries.

SriLankan Airlines in a statement on the incident said:

“Prior to disembarking the cabin crew had taken the initiative to serve a meal on board. Meanwhile the aircraft was subject to thorough checks by ground engineers, and following investigation it was determined that the aircraft should be detained longer to carry out repairs.

The passengers were disembarked and kept in a separate area inside the airport due to the fact that UL506 landing in Frankfurt was an unscheduled stop, and the majority of passengers were without visas for Germany and as such were subject to German Immigration and airport regulations. Unfortunately, this could account for some of the initial restrictions that inconvenienced passengers. However, SriLankan’s airport staff who were faced with an unplanned emergency stop by an aircraft on a different route, and at such short notice, responded in the best possible way given the circumstances, and organised with airport authorities to provide meal vouchers and other facilities.

Eventually, some passengers holding valid Schengan visas and U.S citizens were able to leave the terminal, and were offered hotel accommodation by the airline, including dinner, breakfast and phone calls.

Passengers who were unable to leave the transit area were provided meal vouchers.”