Suvarnabhumi Airport: 80 flights delayed

[bangon04]

I noticed Thai airways were quick to paint over the tail logo on the plane to blank it out. Never seen them move so fast!

that tells me that Thai are more concerned about their image than my life

they are on my no fly blacklist now

It is socially acceptable to lie to your clients and friends in Thailand (as long as you smile while you are doing it). It is not socially acceptable to lose face. Even though everyone and his dog knows that it was a THAI aircraft, it is still important to pretend that it is not a thai problem...maybe a foreign manufacturer caused it.

If they were serious about hiding the identity of the airline, they would need to paint the whole plane black. In the west this would seriously piss off the crash investigators, but here in the LOS it is sop apparently.Too much black paint might make it more difficult to reinstate the 18 year old aircraft.

[frankold]

Honestly, all news articles regarding this accident should be labelled " Anonymous purple jet accident : 80 flights delayed " 

The TG crew were up on the tail in nanoseconds to paint out the carrier logo - give them some credit please !

They were probably there before the fire crew??? :-D

[tigermonkey]

You're so eager to pick a fight and spout your venom, that you missed the entire point. It is far too early to decide the cause of this incident, be it landing gear malfunction or human error or other. Airbus will want a say in an open investigation, since their aircraft has been blamed. This is not "condescending, smug/superior' but reasonable and logical.

THAI is claiming a failure in the aircraft's right landing gear. Airbus will want to send a team to investigate, and will want the results of the investigation to be factual and open. THAi won't be able to wiggle out of that one, unless they admit they were being Thai and blaming the aircraft for human failure.

So you know that it was human error do you? It couldn't possibly have been a landing gear malfunction because there were Thai people flying the plane - must have been their fault/their stupidity......typical Thais.

Horrible, condescending, smug/superior attitude some people have, it's quite sad really.

Airbus will want to send a team to investigate, and will want the results of the investigation to be factual and open. THAi won't be able to wiggle out of that one, unless they admit they were being Thai and blaming the aircraft for human failure.

Oh, I see. You were simply saying that should Airbus investigators deduce that it was human error that - 1km after touch down - caused the nose of the plane to suddenly plummet to the ground and the aircraft to subsequently veer off the runway, then Thai won't be able to get out of that unless they admit they were simply being Thai and blaming someone/something else for their failures (as Thais do I infer). It also seems like you have already deduced it was human failure and there would therefore be something for them to wriggle out of.

You're right, nothing smug or superior about that, my mistake. Please carry on.

Yawn !

[tigermonkey]

I noticed Thai airways were quick to paint over the tail logo on the plane to blank it out. Never seen them move so fast!

that tells me that Thai are more concerned about their image than my life

they are on my no fly blacklist now

Why does it say they are more concerned about their image than peoples lives?

Strange statement, from my understanding the plane was evacuated before they painted over their logo.

Maybe I'm missing something?

Perhaps it has already been said and I missed it. THAI is a member of the Star Alliance group of airlines. I understand that it is Star Alliance policy to cover the logos of any Star Alliance aircraft that is involved in an incident/crash as quickly as practical.

[frankold]

Then why is star alliance saying that it isn't their policy and they have said no such thing?

[Baerboxer]

Human error, mechanical fault or runway surface problem. Which one caused it - wait for the investigation. The last one could cause big problems for AOT and produce bad publicity which would concern TAT.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Perhaps it has already been said and I missed it. THAI is a member of the Star Alliance group of airlines. I understand that it is Star Alliance policy to cover the logos of any Star Alliance aircraft that is involved in an incident/crash as quickly as practical.

No... a THAI spokesman made that claim originally... Then it was refuted by a Star Alliance spokesman. Then another THAI official backtracked and then claimed it was THAI's policy.

Edited September 10, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[AYJAYDEE]

1. As usual, all you fault finders never bother to find out the facts before you spout your vile contempt for the country and people that have invited to live in their country!! Of course the runway was damaged and of course they painted over the logo! EVERY AIRLINE DOES THAT WHEN THEY HAVE AN INCIDENT LIKE THIS! It's a simple case of not harming your brand name!

Edited September 10, 2013 by AYJAYDEE

[frankold]

Were those cracks in the runway there before or only after the accident?

[AYJAYDEE]

I noticed Thai airways were quick to paint over the tail logo on the plane to blank it out. Never seen them move so fast!

that tells me that Thai are more concerned about their image than my life

they are on my no fly blacklist now

It is socially acceptable to lie to your clients and friends in Thailand (as long as you smile while you are doing it). It is not socially acceptable to lose face. Even though everyone and his dog knows that it was a THAI aircraft, it is still important to pretend that it is not a thai problem...maybe a foreign manufacturer caused it.

If they were serious about hiding the identity of the airline, they would need to paint the whole plane black. In the west this would seriously piss off the crash investigators, but here in the LOS it is sop apparently.Too much black paint might make it more difficult to reinstate the 18 year old aircraft.

http://avherald.com/h?article=4681fccd&opt=0

Logo painted over

By photozen on Monday, Sep 9th 2013 15:12Z

I feel this is quite common both in the West and in the East, not something that is unusual at all in the Western world.

Alitalia comets to mind as well as Air Algerie and Britannia Airways crashes in Spain, along with Air Florida Flight 90, Aloha Airlines flight 2432, Air Canada C-FTLU in Cincinnati and many others: all had their logos painted over, and some other parts of the aircraft as well.

It is very common in the US for ground based trucking companies to paint over the logos on their trucks after they have been involved in an accident.

So I am very surprised to see how much attention is being paid to this act with Thai as it has been done a lot over the years and will continue I am sure in different parts of the world.

[AYJAYDEE]

Were those cracks in the runway there before or only after the accident?

those are far from simple cracks!

[slipperylobster]

Painting over the tail logo ??? What is that supposed to do? Everyone already knows it was Thai Airways. Sort of like farting in a public place and then walking quickly away, hoping somebody else will get blamed?

[harada]

..."While THAI will remove its aircraft within 48 months, the fixing on the 300-metre-long damaged area will also take the same time" :-)

It's amazing when writing an article in English how many errors are made. What will this country do when the asean Ecanomic community takes effect in 2015. I think the article should be corrected to read 48 hours not months. Does any publication here in Thailand employ proof readers?

Barry

Obviously not Thai Visa. Ecanomic

[harada]

Were those cracks in the runway there before or only after the accident?

those are far from simple cracks!

A quick patch up and shes right.

[lee b]

expected i think

[JulesMad]

Well done, pilots! This can happen anytime anywhere....

[Aatsi]

Sorry but why they have hide the logo's and flag, do they lose them face or why?

[kannot]

Good nothing seriously bad happened – perhabs due to a good Thai cockpit crew.

Dont be stupid it was the pilots lucky amulet

[AYJAYDEE]

Were those cracks in the runway there before or only after the accident?

those are far from simple cracks!

A quick patch up and shes right.

as an engineer, you should retire

[Greer]

I think its interesting to note the way people are very critical of TG before the facts come out, and the way that many did the same thing when Quaintarse ploughed up the golf course at the old airport some years back.

Accidents do happen, and I think, although there may be a few oddities in what the Thai Airways management have said (and done - painting out the logo on a perfectly obvious TG craft), overall the report above does cover all the bases.

Yes some crew DO have to jump out first to help passengers and prevent them hurting themselves hitting the ground at the bottom of the slide.

Yes the aircraft veered off the runway to the right, and the nose-wheel collapsed - but looking at the pictures I noticed that it wasn't just the nose-wheel, as the main undercarriage seemed to have been broken too.

In the report, they say that the right main landing gear failed, so that would have made the aircraft veer to the right due to friction as it scraped along the ground, which also sent showers of sparks flying and likely started some fires (yes the management said there were no fires - maybe they meant that the body of the aircraft itself did not catch fire).

As the aircraft would have been almost impossible to control, it ran off to the right of the runway, hitting the grass and likely partially embedding itself in the earth and (I would imagine) that this would have caused the nose-wheel assembly to fail as well.

At least they are offering some compensation, and the hurt tourist is being offered a free trip to make up for the spoiled holiday - I guess that's pretty reasonable.

Once they find out what actually caused the whole thing, there will be further improvements in procedures and maybe even in mechanical components, to prevent it happening again (assuming it was not down to any human error, or unavoidable fault caused by something uncontrollable).

Once again, a relatively minor although nonetheless significant incident (minor in terms of human suffering or loss of life - fortunately nobody was seriously injured or killed) will result in overall improvements for the safety of the travelling public.

[Greer]

The THAI president denied allegations by some passengers that cabin crew members left the plane before assisting passengers.

Reported on other local media.

Sorajak said black paint was put on the THAI logo at the back of the plane to cover it, as part of accident procedure. And certain cabin crew left the aircraft before passengers to prepare cushion ladders on the ground, as part of standard safety procedure - not to escape, as claimed in passengers' complaints that circulated on social media.

So now THAI has confirmed the reports that were circulating yesterday about some of their cabin crew escaping the plane prior to passengers.

I don't know whether that is or isn't the normal procedure in aircraft emergency evacuations. Be curious to hear more on that point.

They did NOT confirm the reports that some crew ESCAPED before passengers - he is saying VERY CLEARLY that it is normal for some crew to go out first to prepare the ladders/slides for the passengers use - this makes perfect sense - think about it for a moment - yes a young and strong male or female might have no trouble going down the slide and getting off without injury, but planes don't only carry young strong males and females, there are the very young, and the very old - and often many in between who would be very likely to sustain injury in such an escape.

A friend of mine was cabin crew with EK, and this, along with many other procedures are taught and practiced so that the crew may maintain their license to fly - yes, cabin crew must pass tests for their knowledge to make sure they are competent in all aspects of their work - which mainly revolves around the many safety aspects of the aircraft - so they actually have to pass tests for certain aircraft types too. Its not about making the tea and coffee... its about looking after passenger safety.

[harada]

The THAI president denied allegations by some passengers that cabin crew members left the plane before assisting passengers.

Reported on other local media.

Sorajak said black paint was put on the THAI logo at the back of the plane to cover it, as part of accident procedure. And certain cabin crew left the aircraft before passengers to prepare cushion ladders on the ground, as part of standard safety procedure - not to escape, as claimed in passengers' complaints that circulated on social media.

So now THAI has confirmed the reports that were circulating yesterday about some of their cabin crew escaping the plane prior to passengers.

I don't know whether that is or isn't the normal procedure in aircraft emergency evacuations. Be curious to hear more on that point.

Had I been a member of the cabin crew trying to deal with a bunch of screaming panicking Chinese more interested in retrieving their cabin baggage(no doubt full of cheap noodles and pickled dog meat for the trip) than staying alive Id have bailed out too.Part of the evacuation procedure should be to render morons like this unconscious so as to let those who want to live get out ASAP.

[Dork]

I think its interesting to note the way people are very critical of TG before the facts come out, and the way that many did the same thing when Quaintarse ploughed up the golf course at the old airport some years back.

Accidents do happen, and I think, although there may be a few oddities in what the Thai Airways management have said (and done - painting out the logo on a perfectly obvious TG craft), overall the report above does cover all the bases.

Yes some crew DO have to jump out first to help passengers and prevent them hurting themselves hitting the ground at the bottom of the slide.

Yes the aircraft veered off the runway to the right, and the nose-wheel collapsed - but looking at the pictures I noticed that it wasn't just the nose-wheel, as the main undercarriage seemed to have been broken too.

In the report, they say that the right main landing gear failed, so that would have made the aircraft veer to the right due to friction as it scraped along the ground, which also sent showers of sparks flying and likely started some fires (yes the management said there were no fires - maybe they meant that the body of the aircraft itself did not catch fire).

As the aircraft would have been almost impossible to control, it ran off to the right of the runway, hitting the grass and likely partially embedding itself in the earth and (I would imagine) that this would have caused the nose-wheel assembly to fail as well.

At least they are offering some compensation, and the hurt tourist is being offered a free trip to make up for the spoiled holiday - I guess that's pretty reasonable.

Once they find out what actually caused the whole thing, there will be further improvements in procedures and maybe even in mechanical components, to prevent it happening again (assuming it was not down to any human error, or unavoidable fault caused by something uncontrollable).

Once again, a relatively minor although nonetheless significant incident (minor in terms of human suffering or loss of life - fortunately nobody was seriously injured or killed) will result in overall improvements for the safety of the travelling public.

A sensible, balance post on this subject at last.

Interesting you should mention the Qantas 747 Don Mueang accident. Qantas spent almost $100M repairing that 10 year old aircraft which was considerably more than it's then value. As a result Qantas is able to maintain a good ranking in air safety because they have never suffered a hull loss.

In terms of PR damage control, THAI's painting out their logo pales by comparison.