webfact Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 Airport tractor operator killed while towing jet By THE NATION The driver of a tow tractor at Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport was killed on Friday (February 7) when a passenger jet ran into the vehicle. Airport director Samphan Khutranont did not identify the man killed in the 8am accident, in which the Nok Air jet, Flight DD6458 arriving from Nakhon Si Thammarat, was being towed towards a disembarking bay. The coupling broke, the tractor stopped immediately, but the plane continued rolling forward into the vehicle. The tractor driver died soon after at a hospital, while another ground-service employee also injured was being treated, Samphan said. Nok Air replaced the damaged aircraft, which departed the airport after an hour’s delay. Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30381760 -- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-02-07 Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post pixelaoffy Posted February 7, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted February 7, 2020 Health & Safety + Thailand not compatible 10 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post RichardColeman Posted February 7, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted February 7, 2020 Hopefully the family will be well compensated, though Nok will probably sue them for negligent driving 3 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Eindhoven Posted February 7, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted February 7, 2020 RIP tractor operator. I am getting what seems like daily 'promos' emails from Nok Air of late. Things must be desperate. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maprao Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 (edited) Having been in a tractor were the "pin" coupling broke we kept driving when safe signal the brakeman or pilot. Poorly trained and very unlucky. Why are they towing aircraft after landing. They normally taxi to the stand or gate. Only in noise abatement areas like Heathrow if they land before a certain time us this done. Bangkok nouse abatement Edited February 7, 2020 by maprao 1 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Cricky Posted February 7, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted February 7, 2020 1 hour ago, webfact said: coupling broke Poor maintenance more like it 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post PJPom Posted February 7, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted February 7, 2020 Why must there always be blame or criticism, this seemingly is an unfortunate accident. Condolences to the mans family, a sad day for them. 9 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandolphGB Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 5 hours ago, maprao said: Having been in a tractor were the "pin" coupling broke we kept driving when safe signal the brakeman or pilot. Poorly trained and very unlucky. Why are they towing aircraft after landing. They normally taxi to the stand or gate. Only in noise abatement areas like Heathrow if they land before a certain time us this done. Bangkok nouse abatement They were towing to the gate to collect passengers for the scheduled flight. There was no passengers onboard . Inaccurate reports state there were 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post soalbundy Posted February 7, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted February 7, 2020 Buffaloes are cheaper and safer, gives off an Asian flavour for the tourists. 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman24 Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 very sad i know. they never see trains coming now we have a new one, never seen a plane coming, seems the plane rode into him, crushing him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gk10002000 Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 seems odd. Normally the planes are not towed at a fast speed, possible I guess. And the planes do not roll all that well and come to a stop fairly quickly. I just saw the video on some other sites, and it looks to me like the Plane accelerated after or during or caused the tow bar to shear off or break. Then the plane nosed down after running into the two tug that did slow and stop. So the pilots definitely applied breaks. I would not be surprised if the engines actually were throttle nudged or spooled up for some reason. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ChrisY1 Posted February 8, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted February 8, 2020 14 hours ago, PJPom said: Why must there always be blame or criticism, this seemingly is an unfortunate accident. Condolences to the mans family, a sad day for them. Unfortunate most definitely...but would have been preventable 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legend49 Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 17 hours ago, maprao said: Having been in a tractor were the "pin" coupling broke we kept driving when safe signal the brakeman or pilot. Poorly trained and very unlucky. Why are they towing aircraft after landing. They normally taxi to the stand or gate. Only in noise abatement areas like Heathrow if they land before a certain time us this done. Bangkok nouse abatement I wonder if there was anyone in the cockpit at all to be the brake person? This is normal protocol in aviation but remember where we are? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin case Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 TIT ... no time / money for safety, but you can buy an amulet for protection 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post steven100 Posted February 8, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted February 8, 2020 brake failure of coarse 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geriatrickid Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 22 minutes ago, legend49 said: I wonder if there was anyone in the cockpit at all to be the brake person? This is normal protocol in aviation but remember where we are? If the person is not in contact with the tug, it won't matter because the flight deck occupant would not have seen the tug event occur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geriatrickid Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 17 minutes ago, steven100 said: brake failure of coarse Or perhaps the fault of farangs since it was a USA built B737 after all and the aged tug was foreign sourced too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussieroaming Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 RIP fella, nobody should die at work. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solinvictus Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 (edited) Yeah, RIP. Unfortunate while on the job. Edited February 8, 2020 by Solinvictus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotchilli Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 11 hours ago, mercman24 said: very sad i know. they never see trains coming now we have a new one, never seen a plane coming, seems the plane rode into him, crushing him. Seems you didn't understand the post, he was pulling the aircraft with the tractor when it broke free and rolled into him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukKrueng Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 2 hours ago, legend49 said: I wonder if there was anyone in the cockpit at all to be the brake person? This is normal protocol in aviation but remember where we are? Yes, even in Thailand there is a taxi pilot (or whatever it's called) when an airplane is towed to/ from parking position Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burma Bill Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 From my experience watching many arrivals at Don Mueng Airport, all flights were guided to the stand as shown below. I personally have never seen an arriving flight being towed to the stand - only pushed from the stand when departing. RIP tractor driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atyclb Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 5 minutes ago, Burma Bill said: From my experience watching many arrivals at Don Mueng Airport, all flights were guided to the stand as shown below. I personally have never seen an arriving flight being towed to the stand - only pushed from the stand when departing. RIP tractor driver. just a thought but could nok be trying to save jet fuel by using the tractor tow in ?? i have never heard of such an accident causing death. extremely unusual. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stargeezr Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 If everyone realized just how busy most airports are, and how little accidents like this occur that should tell you that the training was probably good, just unfortunate that the coupling broke and the tractor operator did not keep driving until safe. I guess there will always be the experts who will criticise because this happened in Thailane. Geezer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkok Barry Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 21 hours ago, Eindhoven said: RIP tractor operator. I am getting what seems like daily 'promos' emails from Nok Air of late. Things must be desperate. Same for me with Air Asia. I've unsubscribed to end them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yogavnture Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 the most shocking thing is that only a couple of vehicles around the incident. dont most airports have full time fire rescue..........? i dont see any of that around the incident. what if a real big incident happens at don mueng. will their be a response or only police in a pick up truck? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 007 RED Posted February 8, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted February 8, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Burma Bill said: From my experience watching many arrivals at Don Mueng Airport, all flights were guided to the stand as shown below. I personally have never seen an arriving flight being towed to the stand - only pushed from the stand when departing. RIP tractor driver. Your correct, aircraft that are arriving do not have a tug to tow them to the stand. Sorry, but whoever wrote this article for the Nation is a complete and utter plonker and need to get their facts straight before committing 'pen to paper'. The accident happened at 08:00am local time. The aircraft did not have any passengers on board as it was being towed from the remote overnight parking bay to terminal 2 gate where it would be made ready for a flight. The flight in question as quoted by Nation was as Nok DD6458 scheduled to depart Don Mueang at 08:40 for Nakhon Si Thammarat. Also the aircraft involved in this incident would not have been allowed to fly straight away, again a bit of fake reporting, as the damage would need to be thoroughly examined and repaired. The flight (DD6458) did take off about an hour late, but a replacement aircraft was used. R.I.P. young man. Edited February 8, 2020 by 007 RED 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Tracy Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 An unfortunate incident. Comments have been made that the report 'incorrectly states' that the aircraft was being towed to a disembarkation point. I don't know if the report is true or if the commenters are correct. I cannot see passengers or steps in place in the photographs. One commenter says a tow bar break is a rare occurrence, which, in my experience, it is. But it does happen. There is a shear pin in the bar, designed to break before tug pulls the nose landing gear off the aircraft. There is normally a person on the flight deck, briefed to operate the brakes. Tug drivers normally signal by horn toots. It does help enormously if the brake system is presurised. Pumping and releasing the brakes on an aircraft a couple of times will depressurise the system, unless the system is kept pressurised. The tug driver may well have signalled the brake man on the flight deck and expected the aircraft to stop. When I was learning tug driving, I was told if the pin breaks, if it's a push, stop, if it's a pull, drive away in the direction of travel if you can. In both cases, blowing the horn, or shouting or both, so the brake person can see whatever is happening. RIP tug driver. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
007 RED Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 28 minutes ago, yogavnture said: the most shocking thing is that only a couple of vehicles around the incident. dont most airports have full time fire rescue..........? i dont see any of that around the incident. what if a real big incident happens at don mueng. will their be a response or only police in a pick up truck? As stated in the above post, some bad reporting by the Nation. Within a few minutes of the incident occurring at 08:00am the plane was surrounded by emergency vehicles as may be seen below. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Moonlover Posted February 8, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted February 8, 2020 19 minutes ago, 007 RED said: As stated in the above post, some bad reporting by the Nation. Within a few minutes of the incident occurring at 08:00am the plane was surrounded by emergency vehicles as may be seen below. Also a lot of TVF members who don't have clue about airport operations. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now