Georgealbert

Yes fully agree, but surely the crew must’ve been aware they were flying into a storm, and the seat beat sign was on. Very little details available yet.

This is the plane at BKK Airport, with ambulances attending the casualties. The plane declared an emergency an squawked 7700 code, before landing just after 16.00 Squawk 7700 : An emergency has occurred with the aircraft. Both technical reasons or illness of passengers.

One person has died and up to 30 others have been injured after a plane from London to Singapore experienced severe turbulence, this afternoon The Boeing 777-312ER, plane operated by Singapore Airlines, flight SQ321, left the UK on Monday evening at 22:17, is reported to have experienced severe turbulence in the region, and was forced to make an emergency landing at BKK Airport.

You said maybe a contributing factor, because you made assumptions about the bike, without any clear information. This was a drunk driver, on a well lit 4 lane road, who witnesses reported to be speeding, driving erratically and then slammed into and ran over the motorbike. Are you someone that thinks it is ok to drive after you had a drink?

Fully agree, Thai media is full of many accidents every day. Below is the list of non-Thai road deaths and injuries so far in 2024, taken from the Thai Road Safety Campaign website, the Russians do not have a good record, but you can not tar a whole nation, based on those involved in these accidents. https://www.thairsc.com/eng/

So now the p##sed Russian was not to blame, must have been the bike speeding that caused him to run over them from the rear. Nothing like a bit of victim blaming! Below is 2 stills from the video of the scene, the smashed rear light and number plate have been pushed under the frame and the whole bike folded up, by the force of the impact. This is a well light road, and the Russian did not see the bike because of the alcohol he consumed, but don’t let reality get in the way of a bit of bashing.

Yes fully agree, they would be alive if the drunk driver had not hit them, there are no excuses for that. I have seen the full video from the scene, will not post as not that pleasant, but it does look like they were not wearing helmets, as none at the scene and both casualties had suffered some head injuries, but also multiple other injuries. I very much doubt that the standard cheap Thai helmet would have prevented most of the injuries.

Really? Have you personal experience of paying someone else's bill or are you repeating a bar stool myth? I have called and dealt with Thai police, ambulance and fire service a few times, for incidents not involving myself and not once was it even suggested that I would be considered liable to pay anything. In Pattaya you can use either the 191 emergency number or 1337 then 9 (for English) call centre.

Rayong media is reporting; “Last night at 20.50, Mr. Chutipong Phiphobphinyo, Rayong MP, and Mr. Amnat Omsiri, secretary to the president of Bangbut Subdistrict Administrative Organisation, arrived at the factory, as the trucks were returning the aluminium dross. Local residents protesting outside the factory clashed with Mr. Chutipong, accusing him of allowing the truck to return the chemical waste back to the factory. Mr. Chutipong tried to tell the villagers that he was not involved in the trucks returning and only just arrived to speak to them. Both side argued and shouted loudly at each other until a fight almost occurred, until the chaos cooled down. Today there will be a discussion with the relevant government agencies to try to resolve the removal of the waste.” Video from Thai Examiner facebook. https://fb.watch/sc3wyd1o1r/?

Remember they are closed tomorrow, 22 May.

Today around mid day, another suspected case of brake failure. Bus takes out 5 vehicles that were stopped at traffic lights, at the junction of 3493 (Taksin Road) and 3153 (Phrayatrang Road). Thankfully no serious injuries reported.

Accident scene pictures shows the bike appears to have been wanting to turn right at the traffic lights, into South Pattaya Road, or make a u turn, before being struck from behind.

Details of the boat. The 34m sailing yacht 'Obsession II' was built by CIM in France at their Rochefort sur Mer shipyard. The interior is styled by design house Jacques Pierrejean and the boat was completed in 2002. The luxury vessel's exterior design is the work of Olivier Racoupeau and she was last refitted in 2008. II has been designed to comfortably accommodate up to 8 guests in 4 suites and normally has a crew of 5 https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/the-superyacht-directory/obsession-ii--44753 I am sure some unqualified, self appointed, AN member expert, will be along soon, as normal, to proclaim it was insurance fraud, with them having zero information on what really happened.

Seems that the helicopter was not as old as first reported, but was still a 30 year old Bell 212 helicopter, manufactured 1994. registration 6-9207, manufacturer serial number 35071. The helicopter is only certified for VFR (visual only) flight, and can accommodate 6 passengers, and should never be flown through thick fog, as it does not have the avionics capability for low-visibilty instrument flight. All spare parts are under sanctions and maintenance cycles have been by the manufacturer. If the pilot and/or flight planners put their passengers on an aging and unreliable helicopter without suitable avionics and flew it in adverse conditions then the flight’s planner, pilots and the entire presidential staff were basically asking for this to happen. Really just gross negligence or arrogance.

Seems the government are trying to rely on a response approach, instead of real preventive measures. Will using satellite technology, the Japanese Michibiki system, to help speed up any emergency response and communications really do anything to help the situation and reduce pollution? https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/politics-government/20240519-186826/

Seems that the locals protesting outside the Chonburi factory have successfully prevented the delivery of the second load of aluminium dross waste and it has now been returned to the original Win Process fire site, to be meet by another smaller protest, but that failed to stop the trucks entering. Rayong Provincial Officials are reviewing plans of how to remove and dispose of all the chemical waste at this site. https://fb.watch/sbwMIYOnDh/?

Think that report was about an incident that happened near Ubon Ratchathani Airport, on 16 May.

Here are a couple of pictures from the event, one a rocket after launch, and 1 of a rocket with the aircraft above ir (note not my red circle). Pictures are from the facebook page of the commercial pilot that reported the incident at Ubon Ratchathani Airport. https://aseannow.com/topic/1327480-royal-thai-air-force-pilot-dodges-festival-rocket-in-close-call/#comment-18921488

This helicopter, which crashed, registration 6-9221, has been in service since the 1970s. The first Bell 212 fly in 1968 and since then this helicopter type, has been involved in 430 incidents. Also last night, it was the Turkish Akinci drone that identified the wreckage of the helicopter, using thermal imaging.

It is too early and total lack of information to even guess at the reason, but I doubt the real reason will ever be released, as the Iranian government will not miss the opportunity for propaganda to blame other nations. A few statistics. Approximately 33% of helicopter crashes are caused by pilot error. Nearly 25% of helicopter accidents are caused by mechanical failure. More than 75% of the most severe helicopter crashes worldwide were attributed to flight into adverse weather or flight into terrain. https://gitnux.org/helicopter-crash-statistics/

It crashed in fog, straight into the mountain, and probably had seconds to react. One of the earliest lessons in flight training is the aviation order of operations in an emergency, aviate, navigate, communicate, In that priority order. There was not time to send a may day call and what would it have achieved, as the flight route was known, there were other helicopters flying with them, and the rescue was delayed because the thick fog stopped an aerial search and the crash was in remote and difficult terrain, pictured below. Iranian state media has shared the last known picture of the helicopter from yesterday.

It is being reported, in Thai media, that the transportation of chemical waste was halted on the second day, after resistance by local villagers, who blocked the vehicles. On day one, it is reported that 201 tons, of aluminium dross, were transported for disposal at a factory in Chonburi province. On the 19 May 9 trucks arrived to transport an additional 100 tons, to Mittlecom Co., Ltd. factory, Phanat Nikhom District, Chonburi, but local residents were refusing to allow it to be delivered and as a result, the transport of aluminium dross, from warehouse 3, has stopped. The Chonburi Governor is trying to explain to the locals, and clarify the situation.

20 May 2024, Rayong media reported a thank you to those involved, and from the statement it shows how many different agencies and departments worked together to suppress this fire. “Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand led by Governor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Weris Amrapal, along with SCG Chemicals, led by Mr. Mongkol Hengrojanasophon, Chief Operating Officer expressed there gratitude to all involved sectors, including government agencies, the private sector, and various local agencies who played an important role in helping to suppress the fire, which was a difficult and challenging mission. Those agencies included the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, Map Ta Phut Municipality, Rayong Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, Rayong Provincial Natural Resources and Environment Office, Pollution Control Department, Map Ta Phut Provincial Police Station and Chaloem Phrakiat Hospital, partner companies including NPC Safety and Environmental Services Company Limited, PTT LNG Company Limited, plus Rayong Rescue and Fire Departments and volunteers. Also the emergency response teams from the sites EMAG (Emergency Mutual Aid Group), which was established in 2000, and is a cooperative group of industrial plants, refineries and petrochemicals companies, who will help each other in the event of an emergency. Those member companies involved were, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC), IRPC Public Company Limited (IRPC), Co. Vestro (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Rayong Olefins Co., Ltd. (ROC), Map Ta Phut Olefins Co., Ltd. (MOC) and Thai Polyethylene Co., Ltd. (TPE). Assoc. Prof. Dr. Weris Amrapal, also said, IEAT, as the administrator of the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate and Map Ta Phut Industrial Port, apologises for the incident, and there will be a full review to determination new joint guidelines for upgrading preventive measures to try to prevent further incidents, in terms of safety management and maintaining environmental quality, to help build confidence among all relevant stakeholders.”

https://news.sky.com/story/iranian-president-ebrahim-raisi-has-died-after-helicopter-crash-reports-13139669

Fully agree, was just highlighting that some of the statements on aviation, that just seem to get repeated. Last week it was the the turn for the often talked about upgrade to Hua Hin Airport