Statement On Phuket Air Aircraft Incident

[Rinrada]

Gotta hear both sides of the story.

Got this in an email...ANON....???

Dear Mr Rinrada and Thaivisa.......

Statement on Phuket Air Aircraft Incident

By Captain Chawanit Chiamcharoenvut

Executive Vice President, Phuket Air

According to the news reporting about the Phuket Air Bangkok-London flight no. 9R618 incident, I would like to confirm that there was no flame and sparking as claimed in the news reports.

Following is the chronology of the incident:

Phuket Air operated flight no. 9R618 from Bangkok to London Gatwick on Saturday 2 April 2005. As a usual schedule, the aircraft stopped at Sharjah Airport, United Arab Emirates, at 04:30 am. next morning (local time) for re-fuelling prior to continuing the flight to London. After the completion, the aircraft was pushed back (had not yet started the engine) to be ready to taxi to the runway. During that time, there was an incident of fuel spillage from the aircraft’s wing due to the excessive fuel in the surge tank. The pilot took the aircraft back to the parking bay to have the excessive fuel drained from the surge tank.

After the first drain, there was still some leftover. The plane was then taken back to the parking bay to re-drain the fuel. After that, the pilot has started the engine and prepared to take off again. During the aircraft turning from the taxi way to runway, the leftover fuel visibly spilled out from the aircraft wing. At that time, a few passengers who saw the spillage were panic, misunderstood and screamed “fire”. A flight attendant then reported to the pilot about the situation. The pilot then decided to return to the parking bay to ensure utmost safety and passengers’ comfort.

During thorough examination, Phuket Air decided to accommodate all 366 passengers to rest in hotels in Sharjah on Phuket Air’s expenses.

The next morning, Phuket Air welcomed passengers on board the same aircraft. The aircraft arrived London safely.

As soon as the plane landed, Department of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), United Kingdom, conducted a complete examination of the aircraft and concluded that the aircraft is in good condition and ready to be operated as usual. The same aircraft transported passengers from London back to Bangkok on normal flight schedule.

However, during the Sharjah’s incident, a group of passengers refused to board the same aircraft. Phuket Air offered those passengers with extended accommodations while they awaited for next Phuket Air flight from Bangkok. For those who intended to fly with other airlines, Phuket Air had facilitated their requests. As of today, there is no passenger left at Sharjah. The aircraft had already left Sharjah at 15.35 hrs. (local time) and is scheduled to arrive London Gatwick at 19.35 hrs. (local time).

On behalf of Phuket Air, I reiterate that we always consider our passengers’ safety as the first priority and we take all responsibility for passengers during the aircraft transfer.

[350torana]

Nice of them to put them up in a hotel for the night. From what I remember Sharjah is a 100% dry Emirate . Can imagine a stiff drink after this incident would go down a treat and there were a few complaints

[HarryHacker]

Captain Chawanit, OK, fair enough, care to comment on the other incidents?

[cdnvic]

Let's not let Orient Thai (0ne-Two-Go) off the hook either. They fly the same museum piece (and some older ) aircraft. The paint job is just better.

cv

[bambob]

April 08, 2005

Phuket Air trips halted until safety tests passed

By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent

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 from a wing and threatened to storm the cockpit unless the flight was halted.

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.

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.”

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source :: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1559821,00.html