China Insists They Won’t Ban Thai Airlines

[Jacob Maslow]

Safety concerns have caused a major shift among Thai Airlines. Officials have been working diligently to get all aircraft up to code so that the country’s plans can remain operational. China has affirmed that they will not ban Thai Airlines over aviation safety concerns.

Officials from China discussed the matter with the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA).

Thailand authorities feared that China would follow Japan’s actions and ban Thai Airlines in the country. Chinese authorities remain diligent in hoping that Thailand’s safety issues are curbed in the future. The announcement from China came after Thailand took drastic measures to get their airlines up to safety standards. China acknowledged Thailand’s diligence in implementing safety recommendations and correcting any existing aviation safety concerns.

Thailand authorities plan to meet with Singapore aviation authorities after Songkran. The goal is to ask Singapore for advice and recommendations on aviation safety. Singapore is known to maintain very high safety standards.

Safety concerns pointed out by the International Civil Aviation Organization are being examined by the DCA. A subcommittee has been formed that is tasked with identifying safety issues and will be responsible for remedying safety concerns as quickly as possible.

Concerns over hazardous substance loading and staff shortage are among the most pertinent safety issues.

-- 2015-04-12

[Anthony5]

How long before western countries start ban Thai airplanes?

[angiolo]

There is no quick fix , unless ferang expert service engineers are employed

[JOC]

Would be nice to hear that confirmed from Chinese officials!!

[canopus1969]

Just shows you cannot trust Chinese aviation

[uptheos]

"We welcome Chinese tourists to Thailand"

"Thank you we welcome your very cheap flights, safety concerns not a problem"

[T_Dog]

Note to self: Do not fly on China-owned airlines.

[NickJ]

Thai mechanics are total quick fix " experts" to such a degree that its commonplace. In aviation this just leads to planes falling out of the sky......

[stoffel45]

My wife and daughter are booked Thai Int'l BRU to BKK in July.

Unless I hear that a real accreditation company - from Europe or the USA has inspected, had fixed and cleared THAI on safety - I will cancel the booking (and lose over 2,000 euro) and send my dearest on a safe airline.

Dammit - it was a Christmas Gift on the only direct flight from Belgium to Thailand - now it is a problem.

Get your finger out THAI - dump the Head Office clowns and bring in some REAL expertise - or go under.

[oneday]

"China has affirmed that they will not ban Thai Airlines over aviation safety concerns."

No one is surprised here, are they? China does not care one iota about safety. All they care about is appeasing their new gullible partner for their long tern plans of gaining a new province. In addition, they know eventually Thailand will clean up their act anyway because countries like Japan and South Korea are doing the dirty work (the right thing) for China.

[zydeco]

Thailand authorities plan to meet with Singapore aviation authorities after Songkran. The goal is to ask Singapore for advice and recommendations on aviation safety. Singapore is known to maintain very high safety standards.

Geez, wonder why they're not going to ask China for advice, seeing as how the Chinese want to be so helpful and all?

[JOC]

Have faith guys, Mr P and his men will fix this:

[Oziex1]

I will board a Thai rtn flight to Aus in a few days, the last Thai airways flight for me. If they are going to put my safety at risk like this, I don't need them.

Just hope it makes it back to Aus.

[Hobiecat]

Well of course there not going to ban Thai Airlines from China. The PM was just there pretending to be shopping for new subs for the navy.

[Hobiecat]

Thai mechanics are total quick fix " experts" to such a degree that its commonplace. In aviation this just leads to planes falling out of the sky......

How do you know Nick are you a aviation engineer?

[TBWG]

Bit ambiguous ~~~ Do they mean Thai A/w's the national flag carrier as per the cover pic or do they mean all Thai carriers?

If Thai Airways then OK, but carte blanche to all and sundry Thai operators appears reckless.

TBWG

[Jackson86]

Thailand authorities plan to meet with Singapore aviation authorities after Songkran. The goal is to ask Singapore for advice and recommendations on aviation safety. Singapore is known to maintain very high safety standards.

Geez, wonder why they're not going to ask China for advice, seeing as how the Chinese want to be so helpful and all?

Singapore is well-known for its good safety standards and I'm proud of that.

[Jackson86]

I don't think people should quickly condemn THAI and create unnecessary panic, just let the authorities handle the situation.

[IMA_FARANG]

There is no quick fix , unless ferang expert service engineers are employed

Only a couple of weeks ago LUftansa (Or it's budget carrier German Wings) would have boasted about it's :high safety standards and personnel qualifications..... but now it has been shocked into silence.

If it can happen to Luftansa, it can happen to any airline.

Don't kid yourself,

P.S. the last problem was with a Thai International flight that was parked on the ground in Paris when a flight service vehicle bringing in flight meals to the aircraft and operated by a French catering service ran into the side of the parked Thai aircraft.

The Thai flight was delayed for 24 hours when the in-flight meal service vehicle put a small dent into the plane. They were delayed for 24 hours while a safety check was performed before the Thai plane was certified for take off.

This was roughly 2 weeks ago.

Edited April 12, 2015 by IMA_FARANG

[chainarong]

Generally you find a country run by despots and full of corruption, then everything else follows , China wouldn't or couldn't attract me to any of their domestic airlines even if I had to walk back to Thailand ( Or take the H/S train) if you survey Asian and African airlines and some ex Ruskie nations very few have good records of reliability especially the internal Domestic markets, some do try to improve their image on international sectors (Garuda) and audits are something a bank does, so to answer the topic, I wouldn't give 2 tosses what China recommends or suggest. when it comes to air travel.

[geriatrickid]

My wife and daughter are booked Thai Int'l BRU to BKK in July.

Unless I hear that a real accreditation company - from Europe or the USA has inspected, had fixed and cleared THAI on safety - I will cancel the booking (and lose over 2,000 euro) and send my dearest on a safe airline.

Dammit - it was a Christmas Gift on the only direct flight from Belgium to Thailand - now it is a problem.

Get your finger out THAI - dump the Head Office clowns and bring in some REAL expertise - or go under.

Please refer to the TG website for its official position and certifications.

At this time, I wouldn't worry about the TG equipment flying to the EU. It is as safe as other airlines entering EU airspace.

I have been on the BRU-BKK flight in the past year. The plane might be a bit dated and dirty, but that's it.

I also flew CDG-BKK in the past year with Air France. I felt safer on TG and won't be flying on AF anytime soon.

[EyesWideOpen]

My wife and daughter are booked Thai Int'l BRU to BKK in July.

Unless I hear that a real accreditation company - from Europe or the USA has inspected, had fixed and cleared THAI on safety - I will cancel the booking (and lose over 2,000 euro) and send my dearest on a safe airline.

Dammit - it was a Christmas Gift on the only direct flight from Belgium to Thailand - now it is a problem.

Get your finger out THAI - dump the Head Office clowns and bring in some REAL expertise - or go under.

Please refer to the TG website for its official position and certifications.

At this time, I wouldn't worry about the TG equipment flying to the EU. It is as safe as other airlines entering EU airspace.

I have been on the BRU-BKK flight in the past year. The plane might be a bit dated and dirty, but that's it.

I also flew CDG-BKK in the past year with Air France. I felt safer on TG and won't be flying on AF anytime soon.

After the mind boggling incompetence shown by the pilots of the

crashed AF flight 447, I would not fly on that airline if they sent

me free tickets....

[Oziex1]

Time to vote with our feet and avoid all of Thailands airlines, only this will get them to tend to the safety regs they have been ignoring for over ten years.

Art 44 wont help as demonstrated by the unbelievable arrogance of the flight that had to be canned the other day, when it attempted to ignore the Japanese authorities ban on Thai charter flights.

These guys just don't get it, and have to be forced to act before the worst happens.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Oziex1

[georgy]

Note to self: Do not fly on China-owned airlines.

What a nonsense.

You may just count the number of domestic daily flights in China and search for the last accident they had.

Surprising good ratio, isn't it?

[wabothai]

Why would TA fly to Europe anyway considering their prices are 4 times as high than economy flights. Beats me. Safety standards should be the best in the

world.

[Bangkok Barry]

Thai mechanics are total quick fix " experts" to such a degree that its commonplace. In aviation this just leads to planes falling out of the sky......

And how many Thai planes have fallen out of the sky in, say, the last 10 years? I can think of none. Twenty years? One, on landing. Other than that, there have been just a couple or so little incidents on the ground that I can remember, like not finding the runway wide enough to stay on.

http://www.airsafe.com/events/airlines/thai.htm

In the 1998 crash, I remember clearly that the airline refused to blame the pilot as they didn't want to hurt his feelings.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Bangkok Barry

[ExpatOilWorker]

Note to self: Do not fly on China-owned airlines.

What a nonsense.

You may just count the number of domestic daily flights in China and search for the last accident they had.

Surprising good ratio, isn't it?

(http://www.airsafe.com/events/airlines/prc.htm)

The following events are those involving at least one passenger death during a passenger flight of a large jet transport where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role. Excluded would be events where the only passengers killed were stowaways, hijackers, or saboteurs. The following list also excludes events prior to 1 July 1997 involving airlines based in Hong Kong. Any events without a number were included because the special circumstances around the event. This list includes events after 1980.

26 April 1982; CAAC Trident 2E; near Guilin, China: The aircraft hit a mountain during an approach in heavy rain. All eight crew members and 104 of the 112 passengers were killed.

24 December 1982; CAAC Ilyushin 18B; Canton (Guangzhou), China: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight when an onboard fire broke out as a result of a carelessly discarded cigarette. The aircraft landed and the passengers and crew evacuated, but 25 of the 50 passengers were killed. All 11 crew members survived. The accident report

14 September 1983; CAAC Trident 2E; Guilin airport, China: The aircraft was taxiing on the runway to prior to takeoff when it was struck by a military fighter landing on the same runway. Eleven of the 100 passengers were killed.

31 August 1988; CAAC Trident 2E; Hong Kong: The aircraft was attempting a daytime landing in rain when it undershot its landing and struck a sea wall just short of the runway threshold. The aircraft departed to the right side of the runway and entered the adjacent bay and was partially submerged. All six crew members and one of the 83 passengers were killed.

2 October 1990; Xiamen Airlines 737-200; Guangzhou, China: Hijacker detonated bomb during approach, causing the 737 to hit parked 757 on the ground. Seven of the nine crew members and 75 of the 93 passengers were killed.

2 October 1990; China Southern Airlines 757-200; Guanghou Airport, China: The 757 was struck on the ground by a hijacked Xiamen Airlines 737-200 that was attempting to land. There were 46 fatalities among the 110 passengers.

31 July 1992; China General Aviation Yak-42D; Jiangsu Province, China: The aircraft settled back down on the runway shortly after takeoff and overran the runway before coming to rest in a water filled ditch. About 108 of the 126 occupants were killed.

24 November 1992; China Southern Airlines 737-300; Guangzhou, China: Aircraft hit high ground during approach. All eight crew members and 133 passengers were killed.

6 April 1993; China Eastern Airlines MD11; near Aleutian Islands, USA: The crew accidentally deployed the leading edge slats in cruise. While trying to correct the initial pitching of the aircraft, the crew put the aircraft through several more oscillations. Two of the 248 passengers were killed during these maneuvers.

23 July 1993; China Northwest BAe146-300; Yinchuan, China: The aircraft had a rejected takeoff and overran the runway. One of the five crew members and 54 of the 108 passengers were killed.

26 October 1993; China Eastern MD82; Fuzhou, China: The aircraft touched down long during a rain storm and went off the end of the runway. Two of the 71 passengers were killed.

13 November 1993; China Northern MD82; Urumqui, China: The aircraft crashed about 2 km short during an approach in dense fog. Eight of the 92 passengers and four of the eight crew were killed.

6 June 1994; China Northwest Airlines Tupolev 154M; near Xian, China: The aircraft lost control and crashed about eight minutes after a daylight takeoff in heavy rain. The loss of control was apparently due to an improperly rigged autopilot system. All 14 crew members and 146 passengers were killed.

8 May 1997; China Southern Airlines 737-300; Shenzhen, China: The aircraft landed at night during a heavy rainstorm at Shenzhen-Huangtian airport after a domestic flight from Chongqing. The aircraft apparently broke up and caught fire after it veered off the runway. Early reports indicate that at least two of the nine crew members and 33 of the 65 passengers were killed.

24 February 1999; China Southwest Airlines Tupolev 154; near Ruian, China: The aircraft was on a domestic flight from Chengdu to Wenzhou when the aircraft exploded and crashed about 12 miles (19 km) from its destination. The weather was reportedly clear, and the plane was descending through about 3,300 feet (1000 meters) shortly before radio contact with the aircraft was lost. All 11 crew members and 50 passengers were killed.

22 June 2000; Wuhan Airlines Y7-100; Sitai, China: The aircraft was inbound to Wuhan from Enshi when it was forced to circle Wuhan for about 30 minutes due to thunderstorms in the area. The aircraft crashed near the village of Sitai, resulting in the death of all four crew members and forty passengers. Seven people on the ground were also killed.

15 April 2002; Air China 767-200ER; near Pusan, South Korea: The aircraft crashed near a residential area near the airport shortly before landing after a flight from Beijing. There was dense fog and low visibility reported in the area. There were 128 fatalities among the 11 crew members and 155 passengers.

Fatal Air China Events

Fatal 767 Events

Fatal Events for Airlines of Asia

7 May 2002; China Northern MD82; near Dalian, China: The aircraft crashed about 20 km (12.5 mi) off the coast of Dalian after a flight from Beijing. The flight was carrying nine crew members and 103 passengers. There were no reports of survivors.

Fatal MD80 Series Events

Fatal Events for Airlines of Asia

21 November 2004; China Yunnan Airlines (China Eastern) CRJ-200; Baotou, China: The aircraft crashed shortly after taking off on a scheduled domestic flight from Baotou to Shanghai. According to witnesses, the aircraft caught fire and suffered in in-flight breakup before crashing into a frozen lake about two kilometers (1.3 miles) from the runway. The six crew members and 47 passengers were all killed in the crash. Two people on the ground were also killed.

Fatal Events for Airlines of Asia

24 August 2010; Henan Airlines ERJ-190; B-3130; flight VD8387; Yichun, China:

The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Harbin to Yichun, China. The aircraft broke up and caught fire after it overran the runway after landing. At the time of the crash, there was fog in the area and limited visibility. The aircraft carried five crew members and 91 passengers, and 43 of the occupants were killed. At least one flight crew member survived.

Other Embraer plane crashes

[Nobb]

Because China Airway are not much better!