Don Mueang airport’s escalator accident not caused by poor maintenance

[Confuscious]

3 hours ago, Jiggo said:

Not saying this unfortunate lady did, but it seems most people are looking into their mobile phone's and not enough attention to what's going on around them nowadays.

The aot did not published the CCTV movie ...

[newnative]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Nowhere did it say that the bolt was loose, it said that it failed as a result of a foreign object getting into the mechanism.   Why don't you, and so many others, quote what was actually reported instead of making up your false own versions?

     You might also, in your words, 'quote what was actually reported'.   Which was: 'the accident might (my emphasis) have been caused by a small object falling into the end of the escalator'.  You left out 'might' in your quote--an important word to omit because it indicates uncertainty as to the cause. 

    The article then says:  'He said that a floor panel was found to have fallen under the escalator, indicating that the bolt which attaches the floor to the escalating rail had failed.'   So, there's certainty that the bolt failed, but no certainty that the small object was the cause of the bolt failing--just the speculative 'might'.

 

 

[wombat]

"might have been"

AKA

duck and cover.

[mikeymike100]

5 hours ago, nchuckle said:

It is perfectly legal to drive (mechanical assistance) which on hands free and there are a host of more challenging activities then stepping off a walkway where using a phone is not considered perilous. 

In any case the worst that should happen if not paying attention is falling over after being ejected from the walkway. There is no scenario, given the design that in normal circumstances and correct functioning that you get ingested into the mechanism. The man is deflecting.

Correct, so there must be a defect in the design, or installation or maintenance not carried out as per SOP?

[RocketDog]

7 hours ago, proton said:

True, I have often said to the Mrs car needs going in for a service and get the what for it's still working answer.

There is a theory that human development took a quantum leap forward when our brains developed the ability to envision/project the course of future events and how a situation might unfold. Planning a bison hunt is an example.

 

However, my observation is that forward thinking is a cultural deficit here. I see it in their their stubborn insistence on living completely in the moment with disdain for conjecture or thought of the future.

Clearly this is not an evolutionarily successful adaptation.

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, h90 said:

can be that the bolt holds forever.....If it is not a maintenance issue than it is a design issue...which would be even worse. In my opinion such things must be designed that even in the worst malfunction no one get hurt....only the system get stuck. For sure now I'll walk with my legs again.....Not useing that mechanical people eaters again...

Very true. If the AOT officials are given a choice of:

Option #1. Decent quality materials that will "likely last 30 years if well maintained". 

Or:

Option #2. Half the cost, lower quality materials, and it will more than likely last a long time. 

 

Which option do you think these guys would select? 

[Cake Monster]

 

From a particularly gruesome photo yesterday, showing the poor Lady actually trapped by her leg, I would say that a piece of Metal cut from, a Baked Bean Can. and used as the end plate on the walkway hardly deems as good and professional maintenance,

The end plate is usually made from a robust casting or Diecasting, in order that it does nor flex, bend, or deform under any situation.

This plate in the photo, has clearly been replaced with some metal that was not fit for purpose in any possible way.

A wheel form a suitcase would not have deformed the correctly installed part

Sue the Ass off them Lady, not that that gives you back your mobility or dignity.

 

[Confuscious]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The report did not say that the an emergency stop took 20 seconds, it said that the walkway stopped automatically after 20 seconds.

Travelators and escalators are equipped with a power detector which detects when the system is forced to deliver more power than designed in normal use (an object blocking the travelator, a misalignment of the steps, etc.).
In such cases, the power is switched OFF to avoid further damages to the installation.
Same technique is used un elevators to detect if the maximum weight is passed.

[Confuscious]

15 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Very true. If the AOT officials are given a choice of:

Option #1. Decent quality materials that will "likely last 30 years if well maintained". 

Or:

Option #2. Half the cost, lower quality materials, and it will more than likely last a long time. 

 

Which option do you think these guys would select? 

I think that you are forgetting how most big companies work.
AOT pays HITACHI for the installation AND the maintenance of the travelators.
So, IF anybody should be sued, it would be HITACHI and not AOT.

[norbra]

Bolt is smokescreen,any bolt associated with the moving panels is there to hold them DOWN and would only be doing their job when the step panels are on their return journey ie upside down to prevent them falling off the step plate frame

The 4 bolts per plate on Hitachi walkways secure the step plate to the frame that connects them to the drive chain. Verdict all BS

[Confuscious]

30 minutes ago, RocketDog said:

There is a theory that human development took a quantum leap forward when our brains developed the ability to envision/project the course of future events and how a situation might unfold. Planning a bison hunt is an example.

 

However, my observation is that forward thinking is a cultural deficit here. I see it in their their stubborn insistence on living completely in the moment with disdain for conjecture or thought of the future.

Clearly this is not an evolutionarily successful adaptation.

Forward thinking seems to got lost in the last generation.
That's why you see warnings like "Don't drink the battery fluid" on batteries and other warnings you would never had think about 30 years ago.
Sad but true.

[h90]

24 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Very true. If the AOT officials are given a choice of:

Option #1. Decent quality materials that will "likely last 30 years if well maintained". 

Or:

Option #2. Half the cost, lower quality materials, and it will more than likely last a long time. 

 

Which option do you think these guys would select? 

Either a) I think they buy it somewhere, and I guess there are ridiculous service intervals....overly careful intervals, just to prevent some extreme rare events....And no one follows them.

b) Instead of the original spare parts they install same same from Somchai who is cheaper and gives 10%. ...... We have such a customer high tech machine parts replaced with backyard spare parts which may work but cause problems somewhere else. Such parts can cost irrational high prices.

And most of the time it still works fine.....

At a machine that may kill someone you can't do that......Some filling machine that than spill fruit juice over the floor...OK, but not there.....

 

[Bangkok Barry]

5 hours ago, Moonlover said:

That is a suitcase, so why is she in possession of it at that location in the airport.

It is common to see suitcases like that carried onto planes, despite the rules. And, as far as weight restrictions are concerned, in Thailand it might depend on your nationality. A Thai friend of mine was returning to Germany and was allowed her 65 kilos of luggage through to her THAI flight with no surcharge made. I cannot imagine I being allowed the same. In fact, I was once charged for 3 kilos overweight by United to Tokyo.

[proton]

26 minutes ago, Confuscious said:

I think that you are forgetting how most big companies work.
AOT pays HITACHI for the installation AND the maintenance of the travelators.
So, IF anybody should be sued, it would be HITACHI and not AOT.

You assume AOT are telling the truth of course, myself I would trust a Japanese company over a Thai institution any day when it comes to transparency. 

[RobU]

11 hours ago, fdimike said:

It looks like a moving walkway to me rather than an escalator which normally moves people up/down from one floor to another.  I think there's something amiss in this report.

I think they are called Travelators

[The Theory]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

indicating that the bolt which attaches the floor to the escalating rail had failed.

???????? right, then it's not a "poor maintainable" it is called

"poor regular inspection", if there is any. It will be Inspected when someone lose leg/legs ? 
it sounds like somebody wants to save a face that is already lost. ???? 

[digger70]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Faulty suitcase wheel may have triggered Don Mueang airport walkway accident
By Mitch Connor

 

Photo: @kiti_harnz via Thai Rescue News.

 

A malfunctioning suitcase wheel is potentially behind an unfortunate incident that took place at Don Mueang airport’s moving walkways, causing a woman to lose part of her left leg, according to the Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT).

 

An advisor to the EIT’s mechanical engineering committee, Boonpong Kijwatanachai, recently provided an update about the ongoing investigation into the travellator system malfunction, which resulted in the unsettling occurrence yesterday morning.

 

The EIT’s initial analysis suggests that a wheel from the victim’s suitcase could have got stuck, causing damage to the moving walkway’s comb section. This breakage might have created an opening in the platform large enough for the woman’s leg to slip through and get trapped.

Contrary to what one might anticipate in such an incident, the sensor systems of the moving walkway functioned as expected, ruling out any errors in the system while the mishap happened, stated Kijwatanachai.

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/faulty-suitcase-wheel-may-have-triggered-don-mueang-airport-walkway-accident

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-07-01

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

I don't believe that a little thing like a suitcase wheel can do so much damage ,If so that means that the moving walkway is Pretty weak and if they are all the same they need to be scrapped and better stronger ones put in place to make sure that people are Safe. no Excuses.

[Confuscious]

13 minutes ago, digger70 said:

I don't believe that a little thing like a suitcase wheel can do so much damage ,If so that means that the moving walkway is Pretty weak and if they are all the same they need to be scrapped and better stronger ones put in place to make sure that people are Safe. no Excuses.

During work at my previous company, I was ordered to design a "complete monkey proof" pallet wrapper.

The engineering team put their heads together and designed a pallet wrapper that was enclosed by a cage and could not work if the cage was open or the operator was inside the cage.

A few weeks later we ware called because there was an accident with the wrapper.

The operator had disabled all security devices and had entered the wrapper while it was running.

Luckily for the operator someone pushed the emergency stop and nothing really nasty happened.

Never underestimate the mind of a stupid.

Nothing can be fool proof for them.

[h90]

2 hours ago, proton said:

You assume AOT are telling the truth of course, myself I would trust a Japanese company over a Thai institution any day when it comes to transparency. 

but could be that Hitachi had a subcontractor here....with all Thai and close to some important people to get these contracts

[h90]

20 minutes ago, Confuscious said:

During work at my previous company, I was ordered to design a "complete monkey proof" pallet wrapper.

The engineering team put their heads together and designed a pallet wrapper that was enclosed by a cage and could not work if the cage was open or the operator was inside the cage.

A few weeks later we ware called because there was an accident with the wrapper.

The operator had disabled all security devices and had entered the wrapper while it was running.

Luckily for the operator someone pushed the emergency stop and nothing really nasty happened.

Never underestimate the mind of a stupid.

Nothing can be fool proof for them.

And it is a balance. One of our CNC machines is so safe that some adjustments are almost impossible to do. When it get impossible the people start to push something into the doorswitch.....That need some engineering team that has experience with the work itself. A solution would be with open door/cage there is a speed limit of 5%. So you can fix something on a running machine without getting shredded to pieces. Our tool changing turret has that...looks like a slow motion video.

[mikeymike100]

1 hour ago, The Theory said:

???????? right, then it's not a "poor maintainable" it is called

"poor regular inspection", if there is any. It will be Inspected when someone lose leg/legs ? 
it sounds like somebody wants to save a face that is already lost. ???? 

Right! Accidents don't just happen, they are caused, usually by a chain of events!

If this 'bolt' had not failed, no accident, why did it fail???? I don't know, but it did!

[Confuscious]

21 minutes ago, h90 said:

but could be that Hitachi had a subcontractor here....with all Thai and close to some important people to get these contracts

I strongly doubt that Hitachi would have their own engineers doing the maintenance.

The Thai labour laws do not allowing foreigners to do a job that a Thai can do.

Hitachi can learn Thai people to do the maintenance and then leave it to the Thai.

[couchpotato]

28 minutes ago, h90 said:

but could be that Hitachi had a subcontractor here....with all Thai and close to some important people to get these contracts

No subcontractor. Hitachi have a large presence in Thailand. Hundreds of lifts and escalators. Management is mainly Japanese (few foreign engineers) and the actual techs for maintenance are all Thai (as are the installation teams, but that is normally subcontracted--but still Thai).

[malibukid]

13 hours ago, findlay13 said:

"As such, it is unlikely that poor maintenance was the cause of the accident, claimed Boonpong."

We will soon be hearing it was completely the lady's fault and she will need to pay for all the expenses incurred.????

most likely the repair cost as well

[StreetCowboy]

9 hours ago, Confuscious said:

Despite that the accident was caused by the lady herself, the AOT promly said that that would fully compensate her and offered their excuses to the lady for what happened.

Almost every national and international news report are stating the same:
The accident was caused by the wheel of the suit case came off and jammed the end of the walkway. The lady was hit by the suit case, causing her to fell backwards and her leg followed the broken wheels. Not sure if she was on her phone at the time of the accident.

This was recorded on CCTV cameras as proof.

So, YES, for me it was a case of negligence of the lady.

You can make a mechanical device "Monkey Proof" and out all possible signals to signal a possible  dangerous situation, there will always be someone who has not reach the intelligence of the Monkeys.

Same with the child who get his foot trapped in the walkaway.
Poor parenting.

Shall we blame from now on all the car accidents to poor design and poor maintenance of the roads and the cars instead of blaming the car accidents to the bad driver skills, the speed and most of them the alcohol level in their blood?

Travelators should be safe for use by the stupid, the badly laden, intoxicated etc.  there is no requirement for a minimum level of competence for riding a travelator, unlike controlling a 2-tonne high speed vehicle in the public street, for which a minimum competence is expected.

Staying alert, controlling your baggage and looking where you are going is always good advice, but regardless of any contribution of the victim, the travelator comb plate should have ensured safety from major incident.

[Confuscious]

2 minutes ago, StreetCowboy said:

Travelators should be safe for use by the stupid, the badly laden, intoxicated etc.  there is no requirement for a minimum level of competence for riding a travelator, unlike controlling a 2-tonne high speed vehicle in the public street, for which a minimum competence is expected.

Staying alert, controlling your baggage and looking where you are going is always good advice, but regardless of any contribution of the victim, the travelator comb plate should have ensured safety from major incident.

Before blaming any people or any mechanical device we need to know if the travelator was blessed by the monks.

[StreetCowboy]

11 minutes ago, Confuscious said:

Before blaming any people or any mechanical device we need to know if the travelator was blessed by the monks.

That is a really interesting question.

For me, as a monotheist, I would expect God, in his omniscient omnipotence, to have everyone’s interests in mind, regardless of the self-interested blathering of the tonsured or the beardy

As a polytheist, one would need to direct your pleas to the relevant authority, whether it be the God of Mechanical Travel, TinnHau, Goddess of Mercy to Travellers and those upon the Sea, or Lord Guan, god of justice and rigorous adherence to rules, as well as patron of both the police force and triads.

As a Buddhist, I am sceptical that any plea for intervention might help, and the best that you might wish that whatever mishap might afflict you,  you can address with stoic fortitude knowing that you are repaying previous errors and storing karma for a future life.

God looks after the careful; the devil can find opportunities for the careless.

[Mr Dome]

18 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Who said anything about her falling forward?

 

Mr. Dome I am speaking as an engineer for almost all of my career with a strong suit in trouble shooting.

 

Her pink suitcase was lying beside with the wheels broken off. I would hazard that it was the wheels that jammed the travelator and consider this to be the only possible explanation for this accident.

 

Come up with a more plausible explanation if you can. I would welcome your input.

 

P. S. Please read Dr. B's account before replying.

"Tripping over" something often leads to people falling forward, that's all.

[Mr Dome]

18 hours ago, Confuscious said:

Despite that the accident was caused by the lady herself, the AOT promly said that that would fully compensate her and offered their excuses to the lady for what happened.

Almost every national and international news report are stating the same:
The accident was caused by the wheel of the suit case came off and jammed the end of the walkway. The lady was hit by the suit case, causing her to fell backwards and her leg followed the broken wheels. Not sure if she was on her phone at the time of the accident.

This was recorded on CCTV cameras as proof.

So, YES, for me it was a case of negligence of the lady.

You can make a mechanical device "Monkey Proof" and out all possible signals to signal a possible  dangerous situation, there will always be someone who has not reach the intelligence of the Monkeys.

Same with the child who get his foot trapped in the walkaway.
Poor parenting.

Shall we blame from now on all the car accidents to poor design and poor maintenance of the roads and the cars instead of blaming the car accidents to the bad driver skills, the speed and most of them the alcohol level in their blood?

Your view of people is rather negative, isn't it?

Blaming her for her roll-a-board having a mechanical issue & calling that "negligence", stopping short of blaming her for having had luggage at all (because in the words of another poster, these things aren't designed for it & yet another "it looks rather big". What?! Have you flown much?).

 

Is it too much to expect that even if a small plastic object gets caught by the teeth (already an unlikely outcome as it should just get pushed off and not catch) at the end, that object gets chewed up but the metal parts of a travelator remain sturdy and in place? Apparently not ????????‍♂️

[superal]

10 hours ago, StreetCowboy said:

Travelators should be safe for use by the stupid, the badly laden, intoxicated etc.  there is no requirement for a minimum level of competence for riding a travelator, unlike controlling a 2-tonne high speed vehicle in the public street, for which a minimum competence is expected.

Staying alert, controlling your baggage and looking where you are going is always good advice, but regardless of any contribution of the victim, the travelator comb plate should have ensured safety from major incident.

You echo my previous take on this incident ( not accident because accidents are unavoidable ) and your last paragraph would be the opinion of a judge at a compensation claim hearing . In summary the failed mechanics and lack of maintenance were the route of the tragedy , especially the weak looking yellow combs that are there to prevent any foreign object entering the mechanics . This lady needs to get a top lawyer and sue A.O.T. for maximum compensation .