Safety measures tightened as sky lantern festival is near

[Lite Beer]

Safety measures tightened as sky lantern festival is near

BANGKOK: -- The release of sky lanterns during the northern Yi Peng festival in northern Thailand which coincides with Loy Krathong festival has resulted in many airlines cancelling, redirecting and rescheduling numerous flights.

At the same time several airports also have increased safety measures to ensure the safety of aircraft and their passengers.

The release of sky lanterns is a tradition that has been in practice for a long time during the northern Yi Peng festival.

Yi Peng refers to the full moon day on the second month according to the Lanna lunar calendar (the twelfth month in the Thai lunar calendar) and coincides with the Loy Kratong festival.
But the offshoot of this practice is the danger it poses to civil aviation which has prompted many carriers to cancel many flights, reschedule, and redirect to other airports.

Officials from the Civil Aviation Center in Chiang Mai have been tasked to closely monitor sky lanterns that may inadvertently stray into aircraft flight paths in the skies surrounding Chiang Mai airport.

Should any of these lanterns be spotted pilots will be warned of the possible threat.

During this year’s Yi Peng celebrations, officials at the Chiang Mai airport have increased their Foreign Object Debris (FOD) collection and disposal from the normal four times a day to 10 both during the day and night on all runways.

This is to ensure that no FOD, especially sky lanterns, which could be ingested into aircraft engines can damage any planes. The increased state of security is due to the fact that during the previous year’s Yi Peng festival, as many as 1,400 sky lanterns strayed and landed at the airport.

Chiang Mai Civil Aviation Control Centre director Kiattisak Rienwattana said if one of these lanterns happen to land and latch itself on an aircraft’s windshield then this will severely restrict vision out of the aircraft.

But what is even more dangerous is when they latch on to flight control surfaces which will then result in the disruption of normal flight.

The worse case scenario is ingestion into engines which will result in fire or engine failure leading to a crash, he said.

He said authorities have also made the public aware of the dangers of releasing these lanterns in close proximity to the airport and have asked for their cooperation to not release lanterns during critical hours.

Many carriers both domestic and foreign have cancelled or redirected all flights into the region after 6.00 pm and will last from November 5-7.

The total number of flights that have been cancelled are 126 flights which according to estimates will result in more than 18,000 reduction in passenger traffic, said Group Captain Wisut Chantana, the director of Chiang Mai Airport.

He said that Chiang Mai Airport is located very close to the city where most of the festivities are carried out.

The release of sky lanterns will invariably drift into flight paths which are extremely dangerous to inbound and outbound aircraft.

“It is for this reason that we have asked for the cooperation of carriers to cancel or redirect flights after 6.00 pm into Chiang Mai Airport,” he said.

Meanwhile authorities in Chiang Mai said on top of the dangers that sky lanterns poses to aircraft, they are also a danger to homes and buildings as well as power lines.

It is for this reason that the Chiang Mai city officials have forbidden tourists and local residents to release lanterns at various points around the city such as around the city moat, in and around tight Sois and areas with high concentration of domestic residences.

This is to prevent the risk of fires from falling lanterns which could set of flammable structures.

Furthermore, authorities do not want to see a repeat of last year’s Yi Peng festival where many parts of the city suffered electricity disruption for more than 10 hours after one of these lanterns landed on an electrical transformer which shorted and was set ablaze. The damage at the time was estimated in the millions of Baht which does not take into account other damages to private property, authorities said.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/safety-measures-tightened-sky-lantern-festival-near/

-- Thai PBS 2014-11-01

[Xonax]

Ban these lanterns as soon as possible!

[khwaibah]

The nerve of those airline to get in the way of our lanterns.

[rainman333]

is there an exact date for this festival? It says first full moon of 2nd month , i guess it's just whenever they see a full moon>

[NongKhaiKid]

Tourists and locals are FORBIDDEN from releasing lanterns, as anyone will pay the slightest bit of attention.

Where are the wall to wall BIB and public officials who will be needed to enforce this to come from and that's providing they can be bothered to actually do anything ?

[csabo]

Funny, if someone did not light all these lanterns and just threw them in the sea there would be huge outcry about dumping trash in the sea. But, light them up with a candle and let them float gently over the sea before descending gently into it and polluting it and no one notices. Except the sea creatures of course

[stoli]

I cannot imagine that any of these lanterns could ever get to 25,000 feet. With a candle that big, it would never leave the ground, and the air would be too thin for a candle to remain lit. Where do these stories come from???? They are talking about commercial flights, not Cessnas at 2500 feet.

[bangon04]

"due to the fact that during the previous years Yi Peng festival, as many as 1,400 sky lanterns strayed and landed at the airport"

must have frightened away some of the birds which usually live there...

[Tywais]

I cannot imagine that any of these lanterns could ever get to 25,000 feet. With a candle that big, it would never leave the ground, and the air would be too thin for a candle to remain lit. Where do these stories come from???? They are talking about commercial flights, not Cessnas at 2500 feet.

We are talking about commercial flights on a departure landing path near the city. They are only a couple of hundred feet above my head near where I live.

[drgoon]

Ban these lanterns as soon as possible!

Bah, Humbug!

Loy Kratong is about the best festival I have ever seen - the skies are an awsome sight!

And you get to put a floaty thing on the water and watch it float away with all your troubles... Then float back...

Lol... comes back with double trouble..

[arithai12]

Loi Krathong and Yi Peng are two different things. Quoting Wikipedia

Loi Krathong coincides with the Lanna (northern Thai) festival known as Yi Peng,

Yi means "two" and peng means a "full moon day", which happen to occur at the same time in the North.

I don't have a problem with Loi Khratong, since I can easily avoid if I want. But the flying lanterns

have lost their meaning (except that of making money for the sellers), since by now you find them all over

Thailand. In Chiang Mai they fly them basically every night of the winter tourist season.

Who is talking about Cessnas? We have had to be on the lookout for incoming lanterns on

fire on our 9th floor balcony. And the commercial planes fly scarcely 500 m over the city when they take off.

OK the sight may be beautiful (the first few times), but where are the lantern vendors and the tourists when

there is a mess to clean up the next morning?

[prakhonchai nick]

If they are a danger to the public - then just ban them. Forbid their sale, and confiscate any found for sale and heavily fine the vendors, and anyone found with them..

Never mind the revellers - peoples safety comes first!

[Fiddlesticks]

If they are a danger to the public - then just ban them. Forbid their sale, and confiscate any found for sale and heavily fine the vendors, and anyone found with them..

Never mind the revellers - peoples safety comes first!

I agree 100%. And while we're at it, let's pass a law that all motorcycle drivers should wear helmets. Uh, wait a minute, maybe they already have a law for that. Well at least we know that the motorcycle law is strictly enforced so why wouldn't a lantern law! Good idea!

[Thai at Heart]

Well, we all know that this festival will continue until the aforementioned disaster of it flying into a jet engine actually happens.

People let these things off for days before the main festival. They are incredibly dangerous, causing lots of fires.

So one day, inevitablyna disaster will happen, and Thailand will decide to change or not. Lanterns with kerosene floating on the wind.

If it's about the view, just use drones.