Dozens hurt as Thai airliner hits turbulence

[webfact]

Dozens hurt as Thai airliner hits turbulence

BANGKOK, August 30, 2013 (AFP) - More than 50 passengers and crew were injured Friday when a Thai Airways A380 superjumbo hit severe turbulence during a flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong, the carrier said.

One stewardess suffered a broken collarbone, while the other injuries were minor such as bruises, a Thai Airways official who did not want to be named told AFP.

About 500 passengers were on board the plane at the time of the incident, which happened as it was preparing to land at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport shortly after midday.

The injured -- 37 passengers and 15 crew members -- were sent to hospital for treatment, with 22 already discharged, the official said.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-08-30

[webfact]

ACCIDENT
Turbulence injures 20 on THAI flight
The Nation


A file photo shows three THAI aircraft at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

BANGKOK: -- Thai Airways International's Flight TG600, bound for Hong Kong, experienced air turbulence this morning.

Initially, twenty persons including a crew member were injured. The crew suffered from a broken collar bone, said Chokchai Panyayong, THAI executive for commercial operations.

He said that the flight, operated by Airbus A380, left Suvarnabhumi Airport at 8am. Shortly before the landing at 11.50am, the flight experienced turbulence. The "Fasten Seat Belt" was turned on, but some passengers did not fasten their seat belts.

Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt was quoted by Thai PBS as saying that accident hurt 15 crew and 30 passengers. The injured were taken to a Hong Kong hospital, while the plane was flown back to Bangkok for damage investigation.


-- The Nation 2013-08-30

[thomash]

They were preparing to land and

people did not have their seat

belts on? I guess the same ones

who ride around on their motor

bikes with no helmet on!

[Goompa]

Flying is always nerve-racking at the best of times for me , and I do always adhere to the safety warnings , ie. belt up etc. just glad that the flight did land safely and that there was not more severity , best of luck and a speedy recovery to those involved.

[ginjag]

This airbus incident, there were 500 on board so these must be the Thais that cancelled the Europe trips and diverted to Asian destinations. UNLESS it was taking all those High end tourists back to China. Maybe some were early getting their overhead luggage down as the trend now is to start to get your bags on decent.

[Mister Fixit]

Thank God it wasn't Etihad - there'd have been a lot more injured, because they fly THROUGH storms and won't use extra fuel to fly over them.

[Basil B]

I have only flown once into Chek Lap Kok and it was the most scariest landing I have ever experienced, I was seated near the rear on a 747 and on touchdown it just started to tail slap.

Yet done many uneventful landings at Kia Tak.

Hope all recover soon.

[davejones]

This airbus incident, there were 500 on board so these must be the Thais that cancelled the Europe trips and diverted to Asian destinations. UNLESS it was taking all those High end tourists back to China. Maybe some were early getting their overhead luggage down as the trend now is to start to get your bags on decent.

If you have no idea then why don't you just say so? Why make up nonsense scenarios?

[davejones]

Thank God it wasn't Etihad - there'd have been a lot more injured, because they fly THROUGH storms and won't use extra fuel to fly over them.

Nothing wrong with that. I makes for a more interesting flight. Keep your seatbelt fastened and you shouldn't have a problem. The ones injured are usually those that think the safety rules don't apply to them.

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

i wear my seatbelt for the full flight and make sure my family dos as well since one one flight we hit a pocket of turbulence and i found myself a good 30-40 cm airborne before my seat came back up at me. once was enough.

[jaidam]

Refreshing to actually read about an airliner incident these days that can't be credited to the religion of peace. Hope they check the wings for cracking, weren't they already doing that straight out of the factory.

[MegaRanter]

Flying btw singapore and bkk always gets scary at some point. There are permanent rough patches in the skies.

[johnlandy]

They were preparing to land and

people did not have their seat

belts on? I guess the same ones

who ride around on their motor

bikes with no helmet on!

Exactly, and perhaps excepting the air hostess I have only one comment "som nam naa"

And whilst not known as yet severe weather conditions can be picked up on the radar. Or perhaps the guy who should have been looking was asleep.

[johnlandy]

Thank God it wasn't Etihad - there'd have been a lot more injured, because they fly THROUGH storms and won't use extra fuel to fly over them.

Difficult flying over something when you are on final approach.

[impulse]

It's one thing if people weren't strapped in because it was time to land.

But Asian pilots are infamous for leaving the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign on the whole trip. I've had several cross-Pacific flights lasting 12-14 hours where the pilot never turned the seat belt sign off. They still (obviously) let everyone use the heads, but face was protected for anything that happened because they could tell the press "The seatbelt sign was on".

BKK to HK seems short enough for no pit stops.

The article needs to be more specific about "shortly before landing". That could mean 20 minutes after takeoff, or 5' off the runway on final.

Edited August 30, 2013 by impulse

[Goompa]

Same thing on approach to Phuket 3 years or so before , one to go , never expected the ferocity of the storm , cannot be picked up in a radar in that short of time, never underestimate the power of nature , speedy recovery for those involved, and a credit to the flight crew

[sydneyjed]

Same thing on approach to Phuket 3 years or so before , one to go , never expected the ferocity of the storm , cannot be picked up in a radar in that short of time, never underestimate the power of nature , speedy recovery for those involved, and a credit to the flight crew

This sort of airline incident while concerning certainly isn't out of the ordinary as it can(and does)happen with many of the higher profile airlines who spruik their safety records for all to see...Qantas has had a number of these incidents over the last 18 months and sure we will see more!

[merijn]

I feel sorry for the crew members are they where probable still working.

No excuse and sympathy for passengers who refuse to put on their seat belt when it is instructed especially before landing.

[nosatisfaction]

i wear my seatbelt for the full flight and make sure my family dos as well since one one flight we hit a pocket of turbulence and i found myself a good 30-40 cm airborne before my seat came back up at me. once was enough.

being airborne yourself was not anough, seat had to do the same?????????

[onionluke]

I flew with my family BK-HK on the 28th of July , we were flying Thai ( it was crap as there was no tele on the headrests) . Due to the stormy weather we had to circle for 20 minutes or so and we had to abort one attempt at landing and pull up out of the storm . The plane was shaking due to the turbulence . It was very scarry but we eventually approached and landed from the east . There was a sigh relief all round and some passengers applauded the flight staff when the plane landed.

[nosatisfaction]

It's one thing if people weren't strapped in because it was time to land.

But Asian pilots are infamous for leaving the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign on the whole trip. I've had several cross-Pacific flights lasting 12-14 hours where the pilot never turned the seat belt sign off. They still (obviously) let everyone use the heads, but face was protected for anything that happened because they could tell the press "The seatbelt sign was on".

BKK to HK seems short enough for no pit stops.

The article needs to be more specific about "shortly before landing". That could mean 20 minutes after takeoff, or 5' off the runway on final.

how about the ones leaving the " no smoking " sign on all the time?

55555555555555555555555555555

[blue6062]

On a long haul flight people sit for almost 12-13 hours but upon landing some cant wait 10 minutes for the flight to come to a standstill before they can pick their over head luggage

[masuk]

This airbus incident, there were 500 on board so these must be the Thais that cancelled the Europe trips and diverted to Asian destinations. UNLESS it was taking all those High end tourists back to China. Maybe some were early getting their overhead luggage down as the trend now is to start to get your bags on decent.

It's a realistic enough scenario. A great many Asians ignore the safety warnings, and in fact do prepare overhead lugage on final approaches. So many times I've seen 20 or 30% of pasengers get up while the plane is still doing 100kmh after landing, so they can be the first to have to wait for the doors to open. Just listen to the seatbelts being opened as soon as the wheels touch the deck. A little patience goes a long way, as well as common sense.

As far as seat belts go during flights, Qantas and no doubt others remind passengers to keep their seat belts on during flights, even if loose. It's far better than making sudden and violent contact with the overhead lockers.

[Johnnie99]

This is almost an impossible scenario. The instruments on modern aircraft detect turbulence, whether it be CAT or not, and the aircraft has plenty of time to avoid it.

What we should ask is what the air crew was doing that the aircraft was prevented from detecting the danger.

[Johnnie99]

Flying btw singapore and bkk always gets scary at some point. There are permanent rough patches in the skies.

All the more reason to suspect that something on-board was amiss.

[unanimosity]

They were preparing to land and

people did not have their seat

belts on? I guess the same ones

who ride around on their motor

bikes with no helmet on!

Riding a motor bike with no helmet is not so bad, but you sure don't want to do that without wearing your amulet. Has anybody checked to see if those injured were not wearing their amulets?

[Docno]

Flying btw singapore and bkk always gets scary at some point. There are permanent rough patches in the skies.

Never noticed that and do that route almost once a month. A reasonable quantity of wine or beer seems to smooth the flight out nicely, I guess....

[transam]

They were preparing to land and

people did not have their seat

belts on? I guess the same ones

who ride around on their motor

bikes with no helmet on!

You forgot, they were all on the phone. ......................

[jrtmedic]

Oh dear !

Clear air turbulence(CAT) is usually no risk to flight safety although it can come as a surprise !

No - CAT cannot be seen on radar !

This has all the makings of mountain from molehill building!

[tingtong]

The Thai way:

"The injured were taken to a Hong Kong hospital, while the plane was flown back to Bangkok for damage investigation."

should be a damage already....good luck to the flight crew on the way!!