Rinrada Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 O Dear .....Looks like all the BOTEX in the world will not be enough to save the faces of the guys behind this outfit. Out of INTEREST .... Question....If they offered you a FREE return Flight from Lon-Bangkok ... Would You take It. ..................Hands UP Phuket Air trips halted until safety tests passed By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent (with thanks) SAFETY inspectors have grounded a Phuket Air jet and banned another from carrying passengers after uncovering a series of big defects. The collision avoidance system on one Boeing 747-200 was found to be broken and the evacuation safety lights were not working on another. The faults were discovered when the Department for Transport (DfT) ordered emergency inspections of the Thai company’s aircraft after three safety scares in four days. Several thousand Britons are booked to fly with Phuket Air over the next three weeks and it was unclear last night how the airline would accommodate them. The DfT yesterday contacted Thailand’s aviation authority, which regulates Phuket Air, to demand that “all future flights must be operated in accordance with international safety standards”. The DfT ordered the first checks on Monday after reports of two aborted take-offs by a Phuket Air jet bound for Gatwick. Passengers at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates had seen fuel gushing etc... The 25-year-old aircraft was inspected by the Civil Aviation Authority on Monday. It was discovered that there was a fault with the lights, which are meant to illuminate the escape route during an emergency evacuation. Phuket Air said that it would fix the problems back in Thailand but the authority’s inspectors refused to allow passengers on the aircraft. It returned to Bangkok empty. On Wednesday, the inspectors found more defects on another Phuket Air 747-200, which had been forced to return to Gatwick. The aircraft had taken off 18 hours late on Wednesday after repairs. But an engine failed an hour into the flight and the pilots returned to Gatwick. Inspectors found that an oil seal had been damaged by a mechanic during repairs in Sharjah. A DfT spokesman said: “The reason that the engine shut down was because it had an oil leak resulting from damage to the gearbox oil seal.” He said that Phuket Air had allowed the aircraft to take off from Gatwick on Wednesday despite knowing that the collision avoidance system was not working. The spokesman said that the aircraft would not be allowed to take off until it had passed further inspections. Marie Prince, Phuket Air’s British spokeswoman, said that she had been unable to obtain any information from the airline’s senior managers. ..And She WORKs for the outfit Ms Prince said: “I have no idea what is going on because they are not returning my calls. I haven’t had any information since 3pm yesterday yet I have had 85 calls from journalists.” Darran Lockie, 26, of Aldershot, Hampshire, was on board the aircraft which had the fuel leak and was later switched to the second aircraft which had the hydraulic problems. He said: “They were insisting that there was no problem but it’s now obvious that both planes were potential death traps http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1559821,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigalsouth Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 O Dear .....Looks like all the BOTEX in the world will not be enough to save the faces of the guys behind this outfit. Out of INTEREST .... Question....If they offered you a FREE return Flight from Lon-Bangkok ... Would You take It. ..................Hands UP Phuket Air trips halted until safety tests passed By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent (with thanks) SAFETY inspectors have grounded a Phuket Air jet and banned another from carrying passengers after uncovering a series of big defects. The collision avoidance system on one Boeing 747-200 was found to be broken and the evacuation safety lights were not working on another. The faults were discovered when the Department for Transport (DfT) ordered emergency inspections of the Thai company’s aircraft after three safety scares in four days. Several thousand Britons are booked to fly with Phuket Air over the next three weeks and it was unclear last night how the airline would accommodate them. The DfT yesterday contacted Thailand’s aviation authority, which regulates Phuket Air, to demand that “all future flights must be operated in accordance with international safety standards”. The DfT ordered the first checks on Monday after reports of two aborted take-offs by a Phuket Air jet bound for Gatwick. Passengers at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates had seen fuel gushing etc... The 25-year-old aircraft was inspected by the Civil Aviation Authority on Monday. It was discovered that there was a fault with the lights, which are meant to illuminate the escape route during an emergency evacuation. Phuket Air said that it would fix the problems back in Thailand but the authority’s inspectors refused to allow passengers on the aircraft. It returned to Bangkok empty. On Wednesday, the inspectors found more defects on another Phuket Air 747-200, which had been forced to return to Gatwick. The aircraft had taken off 18 hours late on Wednesday after repairs. But an engine failed an hour into the flight and the pilots returned to Gatwick. Inspectors found that an oil seal had been damaged by a mechanic during repairs in Sharjah. A DfT spokesman said: “The reason that the engine shut down was because it had an oil leak resulting from damage to the gearbox oil seal.” He said that Phuket Air had allowed the aircraft to take off from Gatwick on Wednesday despite knowing that the collision avoidance system was not working. The spokesman said that the aircraft would not be allowed to take off until it had passed further inspections. Marie Prince, Phuket Air’s British spokeswoman, said that she had been unable to obtain any information from the airline’s senior managers. ..And She WORKs for the outfit Ms Prince said: “I have no idea what is going on because they are not returning my calls. I haven’t had any information since 3pm yesterday yet I have had 85 calls from journalists.” Darran Lockie, 26, of Aldershot, Hampshire, was on board the aircraft which had the fuel leak and was later switched to the second aircraft which had the hydraulic problems. He said: “They were insisting that there was no problem but it’s now obvious that both planes were potential death traps http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1559821,00.html <{POST_SNAPBACK}> the wife recons Phukit Air is one of Thaksin's companies. Probably not returning calls as his is otherwise engaged (Rome I think). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Moog Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 To paraphrase Rainman "Phuket Air, never crashed" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdnvic Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 Phuket Air's 747-200s have a backup collision avoidance system. Those old smokey engines leave a contrail you can spot many miles away. Moog, you really want to wait until hundreds die before avoiding an outfit with this many problems? cv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_Pat_Pong Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 Phuket Air's 747-200s have a backup collision avoidance system. Those old smokey engines leave a contrail you can spot many miles away. Moog, you really want to wait until hundreds die before avoiding an outfit with this many problems? cv <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The crews must be a tad nervous too. Ground the bastard airline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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