Pilots Fear For Safety

[britmaveric]

Actually, the erratic manner of the landing has nothing to do with the condition of the runway. It is the new AOT/TAT policy to prepare first time visitors for the harrowing taxi ride into Bangkok at 140kph!

Land at nite and therefore travel by taxi at nite, the high speed taxi ride isn't as daunting with less traffic on the road.

[STEELINOX]

I think that sews it up for the place then - it should be shut down for being an unsafe facility.

A line from "A Few Good Men" comes to mind as to why no one in BKK will assume responsibility for this fleecing of the people: Cruz- "I want the truth!" , Nicholson- "You cant handle the truth !!! "

And so it goes again in this seemingly once calm serene land of water buffalo and rice patties where people now drive like maniacs and people are moving so fraking fast that they really dont understand why or what the hel_l all this is for - oh, I forgot its all about the money. The LOS will now be known as "that place where you can get a great massage, some hot papaya salad, some wooden carved elephants and where James Bond did a couple of movies-" no one will remember this sinking airport or the jackov Taksin in ten years from now anyway right!

[cdnvic]

there have been somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 large jet landings and takeoffs without incident so far.

Where do you get such exaggerated figures from?

Edited January 29, 2007 by cdnvic

[jumnien]

there have been somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 large jet landings and takeoffs without incident so far.

Where do you get such exaggerated figures from?

Just a guess; approximately 400-600 jets per day since it opened. It's been open 4 months now.

[cdnvic]

there have been somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 large jet landings and takeoffs without incident so far.

Where do you get such exaggerated figures from?

Just a guess; approximately 400-600 jets per day since it opened. It's been open 4 months now.

I think you'll find those figues extremely high if you looked for the real stats.

[jumnien]

I'm lazy; I tend to rely on others to do the dirty work. Anyway, assume 200 jets/day for a combined total of 400 landings and take-offs per day for 120 days equals approximately 48,000 landings and take-offs. I really think this is a low estimate.

[charlesfrith]

I'm lazy; I tend to rely on others to do the dirty work. Anyway, assume 200 jets/day for a combined total of 400 landings and take-offs per day for 120 days equals approximately 48,000 landings and take-offs. I really think this is a low estimate.

According to Wikipedia. Don Muang served 160 000 flights a year. I don't mind doing the maths and so divided by 365 days this equals:

438.35616438356164383561643835616 flights per day. Please feel free to improve the accuracy of this figure dependant on information that you can attribute with sources. 438 flights a day is actually 876 flights a day taking of and landing if I'm not mistaken?

Anyway.....

The point that is reaching critical mass in terms of very uneasy and increasingly vocal chatter in the pilots forums and communities is that pilots know that the work is sub standard and that subjecting sub standard workmanship to the highest of stresses from both taking off and landing commercial jet aircraft, hundreds of time each day means the potential for a commercial jet losing it's landing gear is not unfeasible. Boeing and Airbus are lobbying for immediate action. Their brands and reputation suffer immediately around the world at great cost if there is a crash.

The decision to return to Don Muang will be done piece meal because face needs to be saved. This is an error on the part of the authorities who know that the problem is much more severe than is being divulged. All Asian airports have been launched with great fanfare. Changi is world renowned, KL was vaunted as the new hub, Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok was famous just for replacing the white knuckle landing of the old airport and the same applied to Korea's new airport and the wonderful Shanghai Airport. They are 3rd millennium monuments of new economy arrivals on the world stage. Thailand really needed Suvarnabhumi to project it's desire to joint the 21st century.

Semiotically speaking, when the drift back to Don Muang sinks in (pun not intended). The definition of Thailand internationally will be as a third world country that couldn't quite emerge from a laissez faire attitude to life from the poorly educated lower classes and the breathtaking greed of the high society elite.

Thailand's reputation will be even worse if the jet landing gear of a commercial jet disengages on departure or more likely arrival.

If the opportunity arises please do lobby and urge Thais to press for a swift return to Don Muang. The alternative is even more economically damaging, with more deaths due to incompetence and the perennial costs of saving face. As Westerners you can do your bit for protecting the truth by keeping a close watch on the Wikipedia entry for the airport that was crumbling before it even opened.

Rgds

Charles

[charlesfrith]

It's almost funny if it wasn't so serious but international flights are working there way round cracks when taking off by steering round them.

http ://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t= 260963

Stay informed

Edited January 29, 2007 by sbk
no link drops to other forums allowed

[charlesfrith]

Great picture. I like maak maak.

[charlesfrith]

Great picture. I like maak maak.

I like this article:

http://www.talkaboutculture.com/group/soc....ges/496347.html

[charlesfrith]

Came across this. It's very enlightening about more than just the airport.

Why the airport is a stinker of a heap

by zigtoc@ Jan 25, 2007 at 12:45 PM

Old Thai proverbs shed light on airport fiasco

Why can't they do one thing right at Suvarnabhumi Airport? In a way,

the Suvarnabhumi Airport mirrors Thai society.

We have an excellent location to be the transport hub of Southeast

Asia. We are a great nation with a rich history (have you watched "The

Legend of King Naresuan"?). We have the natural resources. We have the

facilities. But we can't do things right.

Why?

You probably have to go back to the Thai proverbs or old Thai sayings

to understand the particular traits that have given rise to the mother

of all sloppy and corrupt projects - the new airport.

It took more than 40 years, an incredibly long time, to plan, design

and build this airport, during which time politicians came and went.

This is in line with the saying chao cham yen cham ('I just wash one

dish in the morning and another dish in the evening'), which describes

motionless people who are very economical with their energy and who

rarely set their sights on getting anything done. Chao cham yen cham is

most often used to describe civil servants who are lazy and lack the

incentive to work. Well, that's why it took us 40 years to build the

airport. Cracks have begun to appear in a taxiway and runway only four

months after its opening. This has raised doubts about the standard of

safety at the airport.

It all goes back to the time when politicians, civil servants and

contractors colluded to fill in the land at Suvarnabhumi in a suk ao

phao kin ('I'll eat it regardless of whether it's cooked or burnt')

way. Suvarnabhumi was originally swampland with a high incidence of

floods. Efforts to fill in the land began during the government of

General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and continued through to the government

of Chuan Leekpai.

Engineers and technicians will have to investigate whether the land at

Suvarnabhumi was filled adequately enough to support the taxiway and

runway. The authorities, at one time, used to allow some water into the

land to alleviate flooding in nearby areas, possibly undermining the

foundation of the taxiway and runway. So, now we have the cracks in a

taxiway and runway as a result of this substandard practice.

We happened to have dishonest politicians, civil servants and

contractors responsible for this, who went about their jobs in a manner

that was suk ao phao kin. Suk ao phao kin means to do things sloppily

or recklessly. This suk ao phao kin behaviour is another prominent Thai

trait.

The roof of the terminal also leaks. You might substitute suk ao phao

kin when referring to this approach to construction and call it loop na

pa jamook ('I just need to stroke my face and patch up the nose then I

can get away with it').

Don't forget to open up your umbrella once you are inside the terminal

- it might rain!

During the six years of Thaksin Shinawatra's reign, construction of the

airport terminal and other facilities got off the ground and it was

eventually completed. This gave politicians and civil servants a good

chance to revise the design and call in new contracts to facilitate

bribes.

The contractors had to pay bia bai rai thang ('I have to pay money

under the table all the way'). With the cost of the bia bai rai thang,

the contractors had to compromise on the quality of the jobs they were

hired to do.

While the Thaksin government was in power, politicians adopted a nam

khuen hai reep tak ('I must fetch the water while the tide is high')

approach. It was time for the opportunists to make money without fear

of the consequences. They wanted to open Suvarnabhumi as quickly as

possible because only then they could walk away with lucrative deals

from the contractors. Now that Thaksin has gone, all the dirty tricks

that occurred while the airport was built have become evident. The

saying nam lot tor phut ('when the tide goes down, all the stumps show

up') accurately captures this. The stench of corruption hovers over the

procurement of the CTX luggage scanners and the underground power-line

system. There are not enough toilets for passengers, as toilet bowls

had to make way for shops.

Shortly after the coup, the military leaders asked the airport

authorities if they were ready to open Suvarnabhumi or not. If things

were not ready, they could delay the opening further. The authorities

assured everybody that the airport was 100 per cent ready to open.

This haste to open Suvarnabhumi was an act of phak chi roi na ('topping

my face with coriander just to get a way with it'). In July, two months

before he was ousted, Thaksin had proudly launched a soft opening of

the airport by flying from Don Muang to Suvarnabhumi. He wanted the new

airport to become a hallmark of his government's success.

As a result, we have an airport that is beautiful from the outside, but

inside it is hollow. This is equivalent to khang nok sook sai khangnai

pen kluang ('I look beautiful from the outside, but don't ever kiss

me!') It's hard to believe how badly things have turned out at

Suvarnabhumi. Only the old proverbs can say it all.

Thanong Khanthong

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