THAI’s flight from Chiang Mai was forced to return due to mechanical problem

[rooster59]

THAI’s flight from Chiang Mai was forced to return due to mechanical problem

CHIANG MAI: A Thai Airways International flight was forced to return to Chiang Mai international airport Saturday afternoon after about ten minutes’ takeoff due to mechanical problem.

THAI announced in its Facebook page that an Airbus A330-300 flight TG 111 left Chiang Mai at 5.35 pm for Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport. However, as the plane was climbing, one of the engines developed trouble and the captain decided to take a reverse to return to Chiang Mai.

The plane landed safely at 5.44 pm and underwent maintenance of the troubled engine. It was due to leave Chiang Mai at 11 pm and was expected to arrive at Suvarnabhumi international airport at about 1 am on Sunday.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/166986-2/

-- Thai PBS 2016-06-12

[tonywillo]

To be expected when you have a 4 star safety record (airline ratings.com)

[natway09]

What is to be expected tony?

Any plane anywhere in the world can have engine trouble.

The pilot took what is normal procedure & apart from a few late appointments or connections

all is well

[Roota]

To be expected when you have a 4 star safety record (airline ratings.com)

Indeed, just what you'd expect from any relatively safe airline -- a captain erring on the side of caution.

[SOTIRIOS]

...The 8th Wonder...wonder how they are even still in operation....

...excessive tourist dollars....

[sanukjim]

To be expected when you have a 4 star safety record (airline ratings.com)

Most of the time 3 star I think for these loosers.

[tolsti]

No wonder Thai is operating in losses...flying a wide body like the A330 between Chiangmai and Bkk is not efficient at all

It is if you fill it with passengers and you own it with no lease to pay. Just like when they ran 747s from Phuket to Bangkok and vice versa.

The older 747s have almost all gone now... Job well served.. A330 are the next to serve out their time.

Airline economics are not simple... There are so many factors to consider.

[Adventurer1]

These news articles are very poorly written.

[PostmanPat]

I was actually on this very plane which arrived in Chiang Mai at about 2.45pm having left Bangkok over two hours late due to "mechanical problems" announced while we were waiting in departures at Suvarnhabumi. My flight was fine, but clearly the mechanical problems resurfaced on the return leg back to Bangkok.

What astonished me at Suvarnhabumi was the number of Thai passengers who caused a huge commotion of complaints because the flight was delayed! They surrounded the ground crew and ( according to my Thai partner ) were demanding to take off "now...right now....we ll be late to Chiang Mai...".

Are Thai passengers on planes possessed of a death wish, same as they are on motorcycles?! If someone in authority tells me that a metal object which flies at 35,000 feet has a mechanical problem, I m quite happy to wait until they fix it.......Thais, it seems, are not !!

[Asiantravel]

we are not talking about a budget carrier here and hanging around in the terminal for a further 5 hours wouldn't be much fun.

I wonder what kind of meal allowance or other forms of compensation was given to the passengers?

[nakhonandy]

I was actually on this very plane which arrived in Chiang Mai at about 2.45pm having left Bangkok over two hours late due to "mechanical problems" announced while we were waiting in departures at Suvarnhabumi. My flight was fine, but clearly the mechanical problems resurfaced on the return leg back to Bangkok.

What astonished me at Suvarnhabumi was the number of Thai passengers who caused a huge commotion of complaints because the flight was delayed! They surrounded the ground crew and ( according to my Thai partner ) were demanding to take off "now...right now....we ll be late to Chiang Mai...".

Are Thai passengers on planes possessed of a death wish, same as they are on motorcycles?! If someone in authority tells me that a metal object which flies at 35,000 feet has a mechanical problem, I m quite happy to wait until they fix it.......Thais, it seems, are not !!

Unfortunately this is not just a Thai thing, I have seen this before in various places in Asia, madness.

I have even seen isolated incidents like this in the west but generally only one or two people.

You have to wonder if their brains are actually working. Who in their right mind would want to get onto an unserviceable aircraft? Not me! I'll accept the delay, it happens with all airlines now and again.

[thenewgoo]

No wonder Thai is operating in losses...flying a wide body like the A330 between Chiangmai and Bkk is not efficient at all

It is if you fill it with passengers and you own it with no lease to pay. Just like when they ran 747s from Phuket to Bangkok and vice versa.

The older 747s have almost all gone now... Job well served.. A330 are the next to serve out their time.

Airline economics are not simple... There are so many factors to consider.

Yes, well said. I've been on Thai airways 747s between Bangkok and Chiang Mai in my time - so it wasn't just Phuket - the flight was full. With so many airline alliances (one world, star alliance etc) these days, the airlines juggle the numbers accordingly - with varying competence. Bangkok Airways do well out of this also but I don't think they have any bigger planes - I could be wrong?

[cnx355]

No wonder Thai is operating in losses...flying a wide body like the A330 between Chiangmai and Bkk is not efficient at all

It is if you fill it with passengers and you own it with no lease to pay. Just like when they ran 747s from Phuket to Bangkok and vice versa.

The older 747s have almost all gone now... Job well served.. A330 are the next to serve out their time.

Airline economics are not simple... There are so many factors to consider.

Yes, well said. I've been on Thai airways 747s between Bangkok and Chiang Mai in my time - so it wasn't just Phuket - the flight was full. With so many airline alliances (one world, star alliance etc) these days, the airlines juggle the numbers accordingly - with varying competence. Bangkok Airways do well out of this also but I don't think they have any bigger planes - I could be wrong?

Agree, I fly Chiangmai-Bangkok ( BKK )a few time a year on Thai 777 or 330 and they are always full; I think it is because they have a lot of international passengers with connecting flights that do not want to fly Chiangmai-Don Muang ( DMK ) and change airport.

[Lannig]

Such an engine problem causing a precautionary return is a non-event.

It happens several times per day around the world (check avherald.com) and has nothing to do with Thai Airways being a good airline or not.

A330s are here to stay for a long time. New A330 aircrafts are still being delivered quite often and an A330neo is in the books.

Last time I've checked Thai Airways was trying to get rid of their A340s. Operating them is not profitable on most routes nowadays due to their high fuel consumption (I very much regret this because the A340-600 is the most elegant aircraft flying IMHO). From Wikipedia, it seems that they're no longer in their fleet, more likely scraped than sold I'm afraid.

But the A330s will be around for quite a while.

Not sure that it would make sense to fly an A380 between CNX and BKK.

Anyone who's been in Thailand long enough knows that most Thais have little of to notion of possibly lethal accidents when riding a vehicle, whatever it is, terrestrial, marine or flying! So I'm not surprised by the reaction of passengers, although they might really have been expecting another aircraft to pick them up right away (something that can't happen in real life for many reasons)

[PostmanPat]

In answer to the person who asked, Thai Airways gave meal vouchers for 300 baht, but rather craftily, they gave them out 15 minutes before the revised flight time, and as the restaurant area was literally five minutes from the boarding gate it meant that most people were unable to use the vouchers! Now that may have been just a coincidence.....I think not!!

[bangon04]

I was actually on this very plane which arrived in Chiang Mai at about 2.45pm having left Bangkok over two hours late due to "mechanical problems" announced while we were waiting in departures at Suvarnhabumi. My flight was fine, but clearly the mechanical problems resurfaced on the return leg back to Bangkok.

What astonished me at Suvarnhabumi was the number of Thai passengers who caused a huge commotion of complaints because the flight was delayed! They surrounded the ground crew and ( according to my Thai partner ) were demanding to take off "now...right now....we ll be late to Chiang Mai...".

Are Thai passengers on planes possessed of a death wish, same as they are on motorcycles?! If someone in authority tells me that a metal object which flies at 35,000 feet has a mechanical problem, I m quite happy to wait until they fix it.......Thais, it seems, are not !!

Unless of course the Thai passengers assume that the airline is Thai-ing to them as a matter of operational expedience. If a PuYai is late arriving maybe ordinary passengers would be made to wait. Technical problem is a good excuse....

[PostmanPat]

Unless of course the Thai passengers assume that the airline is Thai-ing to them as a matter of operational expedience. If a PuYai is late arriving maybe ordinary passengers would be made to wait. Technical problem is a good excuse....

I can see that point and suspected it myself. When we finally boarded the "delayed" flight, we were reassigned to different seats than the ones on our boarding passes, suggesting that perhaps two half empty flights were consolidated into one full flight. The point remains, however, that the plane we travelled on clearly did have mechanical issues, although thankfully not on the leg we were on from BKK to CNX.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

I wonder how many years all the water fountains at CNX will be broken?

[kaptainrob]

THAI announced in its Facebook page that an Airbus A330-300 flight TG 111 left Chiang Mai at 5.35 pm for Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport. However, as the plane was climbing, one of the engines developed trouble and the captain decided to take a reverse to return to Chiang Mai.

The plane landed safely at 5.44 pm and underwent maintenance of the troubled engine. It was due to leave Chiang Mai at 11 pm and was expected to arrive at Suvarnabhumi international airport at about 1 am on Sunday.

An innocuous news release makes loss of one engine on climb-out downplays the seriousness of the incident. Thai's aircrew should be congratulated for making a swift and safe emergency landing.

We heard the twin explosions as TG111 took off, too low behind trees for us to actually see but flightradar showed the resulting turn-around. The A330 is undergoing an engine swap at CNX out front of Cargo/Customs sheds as I write. Saturdays flight to BKK was via a replacement aircraft.