AoT takes flight scare flak

Airports of Thailand (AoT) has been ordered to improve its emergency response systems after an emergency landing at Phuket International Airport on Thursday night.

An Air Berlin Airbus A330 is parked at Phuket International Airport Friday morning, pending repairs. It made an emergency landing there on Thursday night when it suffered serious engine trouble shortly after taking off. The plane remained stuck on the airport’s single runway as its tyres burst on landing, and many flights were delayed as a result. (Photo by ACHADTAYA CHUENNIRAN)

Transport Minister Chadchat Sittipunt said the agency was too slow to clear the runway after an Air Berlin flight which had departed Phuket airport at 9.30pm was forced to return there and make an emergency landing. The airline said the causes are being investigated and that it could not confirm a local news report that there had been an engine fire.
No injuries were reported, but more than 1,000 passengers were left stranded as airport staff took six hours to clear the sole runway.
Mr Chadchat raised his concerns at a workshop on the expansion of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday.
Air Berlin Plc said Friday in a statement that all 249 passengers on board flight AB7425 to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates exited by the normal stairway.
The passengers were rebooked to their final destinations on flights Friday and Saturday, Air Berlin said.
Three of the Airbus A330's tyres burst upon its emergency landing.
A CNN report said it took two aircraft mechanics 45 minutes to an hour to replace each of the tyres, which weigh 220kg.
Mr Chadchat said the time it took AoT staff to replace the plane's tyres and move it off the airport's only runway was unacceptable.
He ordered the AoT management to review its emergency response systems to establish if they match international standards and if the airport had sufficient equipment to cope with emergency situations.
The transport minister emphasised that Phuket airport is especially vulnerable in case of emergencies because it has only one runway, and whenever there is a serious problem affecting the runway there, all flights are grounded.
Mr Chadchat will visit Phuket airport next week to examine its condition.
He said the airport was already congested as the number of passengers exceeded its capacity by 40%.
Acting AoT president Somchai Sawasdipol promised yesterday that the airports agency would improve its emergency response.
He said flight services at Phuket airport resumed at 3.30am yesterday.
Mr Somchai said AoT provided food and accommodation for all 1,046 passengers affected by the runway closure before they were booked on alternative flights to their destinations.
These included the 249 passengers of the Air Berlin flight to Abu Dhabi.
Some of them boarded another plane provided by the airline at 10.30am yesterday.
Aphinun Vannangkura, executive vice president of the flight-controller Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, said the accident delayed at least 20 flights.
Affected services included eight flights due to depart Phuket airport, 10 incoming flights that were directed to other airports, and two that had left Suvarnabhumi for Phuket and then had to return.
Phuket airport director Prathuang Sornkham said that flight services at Phuket airport could resume as soon as the Air Berlin plane was moved because the runway was not damaged.
The A330 was pulled to a parking bay to await repairs by engineers from Air Berlin.
Air Berlin is 29%-owned by Etihad Airways and provides code-share flights to Abu Dhabi.

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