Dozens hurt as Thai airliner hits turbulence

[RogueLeader]

1. TV posts a story about a plane hitting turbulence.

2. TV posters use this as an excuse to bash Thais, the Chinese, Muslims and Asians in general.

The stupid is strong here.

[Naam]

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.

This is a very busy route and plenty of budget flers use it too, about 80% of seats on the Emirates A380 are economy.

As for Thai Air it is 82%:

The seats are arranged in three classes: 12 in Royal First Class, 60 in Royal Silk (Executive Class), and 435 in Economy.

http://www.thaiairways.co.uk/news/2013/06/a380-joins-thai-airways-london-bangkok-fleet/#.UiBuv9Jwq7g

When you are flying the A380 full it is very economical especially compared with the fuel guzzling 747s & 777s

does that mean you get a refund after the flight?

[chrissables]

They were preparing to land and

people did not have their seat

belts on? I guess the same ones

who ride around

Are you on drugs? What on earth has wearing a motorbike helmet have to do with a plane hitting turbulence? It is idiotic statements like that that brought the stupid helmet law into effect!

[Schuimpge]

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

You keep in line with your name I guess...but in case you where serious...:

Hong Kong is not Singapore's airport... It's a city state same as Singapore but about 3 hours north instead of south...

[Suradit69]

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?

"...so these must be the Thais..." "...the trend now is to start to get your bags on decent."

Possibly all 500 weren't of the same nationality. Not sure why speculating on who was on board is useful anyway, but it wasn't a very decent descent, I guess.

[cardholder]

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.

Same for for me.

I experienced the same on my first ever flight abroad - I thought it was normal !

[Schuimpge]

The newspaper not to be named here has some pics from the cabin.

There's some serious damage to panels in the cabin. Some people going home with severe headaches I guess. They won't forget their seatbelts next time for sure...

[Krataiboy]

Blimey! More wild speculation here than on the US Stock Exchange.

[Noistar]

They were preparing to land and

people did not have their seat

belts on? I guess the same ones

who ride around

Are you on drugs? What on earth has wearing a motorbike helmet have to do with a plane hitting turbulence? It is idiotic statements like that that brought the stupid helmet law into effect!

You don't understand the comparison between sets of people who think its unnecessary to heed safety advice?

[Beng]

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.

Is that really the case ???

[irishken]

Thumbs up for the crew, probably stopped a lot more passengers been injured

[Noistar]

Hope they check the wings for cracking, weren't they already doing that straight out of the factory.

If you get the facts, there was no wing crack issue with A380s. A minor wing rib attachment cracking which didn't affect the safe operation of the aircraft.

Mind you, the facts don't make such dramatic headlines

[Noistar]

Blimey! More wild speculation here than on the US Stock Exchange.

Got any insider info you can pass on? nudge nudge lol

[Mudcrab]

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.

This is a very busy route and plenty of budget flers use it too, about 80% of seats on the Emirates A380 are economy.

As for Thai Air it is 82%:

The seats are arranged in three classes: 12 in Royal First Class, 60 in Royal Silk (Executive Class), and 435 in Economy.

http://www.thaiairways.co.uk/news/2013/06/a380-joins-thai-airways-london-bangkok-fleet/#.UiBuv9Jwq7g

When you are flying the A380 full it is very economical especially compared with the fuel guzzling 747s & 777s

On a long haul flight certainly.....but not on these short hops. The A380 is very thirsty until it gets to cruising altitude. And stays there for a very long time.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Mudcrab

[cloudhopper]

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.

It's almost impossible to be more wrong. What instruments would those be Johnnie?

[Priceless]

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.

Quote: "Clear-air turbulence is usually impossible to detect with the naked eye and very difficult to detect with conventional radar,^[7] with the result that it is difficult for aircraft pilots to detect and avoid it." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear-air_turbulence]

[mca]

Had to laugh once on a TA flight from Lahore to BKK and as the plane was actually on the final approach (just coming in over the airport perimeter) and this bloke a few seats in front of me stood up and started opening the overhead compartment and removing his stuff! ( Not mentioning where he was from for fear of being accused of racism but you can fill in the blanks) Slightly feeble admonishments from the cabin crew until one Brit a few seat behind me bellowed "SIT DOWN <deleted>!"

Nothing lost in translation because that's exactly what he did.

[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.

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

I do not have first hand info, as for nonsense ??? could well have had what I said, and you know the general trend to get overhead luggage is getting it at an earlier stage.

As far as the injured are concerned I would be amongst all to say sorry, and wish you well.

And D Jones you have been on long enough to comment but didn't, but were there to jump on anyone that suits. Why didn't you have your say before me ???

[circusman]

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.

Do you think the injured read your post? I just don't see the point of such replies.

[mca]

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.

Same for for me.

I experienced the same on my first ever flight abroad - I thought it was normal !

Yeah I didn't fly until my early 20's and we were up and down like a yo-yo across the Atlantic. Same as you i thought it was normal and thought "F*** this flying lark!"

Later heard 2 stewardesses saying to each other "That was a bit rough"

[Angeledge777]

Where were the seatbelts?

[khaosai]

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.

Hi,

Flying over storms is not the best idea as you may encounter a phenomenon known as ice crystal icing. I would also be very surprised if any crew would knowingly fly through bad weather. In areas with large water masses the thunderstorms are less reflective, thus you need to know how to operate the weather radar correctly.

[Braveheart24]

It is not appropriate fo a comment at this time. We do not have enough information. Turbulence from storm activity, wake turbulence or wind sheer. Passengers not being strapped in could suggest long finals or stupid passengers. The fact that flight crew were injured would suggest they were still trying to secure the cabin. However, with stupid passengers, that can take longer than required. As you are aware, the approach to HKK is fairly critical esp as it is a very busy airport. Let us await more details before we even consider blame. These modern aircraft are incredibly sofisticated. However, their sheer bulk dictates a slower roll and reaction rate. Good and bad. Call for secure of cabin is done at least 20 mins before an expected landing. Indeed many now call it on start of descent. Passengers need to listen to cabin crew. They are trained and know better.

[Pui]

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?

Thank you, it needed saying. What utter rubber.

There are several Thaiairways flights between HK and BKK each day. Cathy i beleive there are 5 flights per day.

Speculating as to why people where flying seems irrelevant.

[mca]

They were preparing to land and

people did not have their seat

belts on? I guess the same ones

who ride around

Are you on drugs? What on earth has wearing a motorbike helmet have to do with a plane hitting turbulence? It is idiotic statements like that that brought the stupid helmet law into effect!

Yep that good old stupid helmet law. Next they'll be telling us it's dangerous to drink industrial drain cleaner.

[khaosai]

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.

Hi,

The aircraft instruments do not detect turbulence, in particular clear air turbulence (CAT).

The crew will have a weather briefing package provided to them which will highlight areas of potential CAT. The flight plan will also generate an indication of shear rates on the route.

The weather radar detects moisture which indicates the presence of cloud. You need to ensure to look at the lower one third of the cloud to paint an accurate picture due to colder components in the higher portion of the cloud being less reflective.

Clear air turbulence will continue to pose problems for crews for the foreseeable future.

[ginjag]

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.

Do you think the injured read your post? I just don't see the point of such replies.

Basil B was giving good tidings to the injured, from his good heart. better than no comment like yours. Have you commented on the topic, suppose you don't feel for the injured.

[smedly]

The problem with passengers that don't put on their seatbelts when instructed is that they become a danger to passengers that do, some people just cannot/refuse to follow simple instructions, It is pretty anoying

[MobileContent]

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!

What a rubbish comment

[fishhooks]

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.

Why post the above?

Ridiculous nonsense!

Are you bored?