Suvarnabhumi accident: Flights delayed
After plane slid off runway, 14 injured, 35 flights delayed this morning, runway closed for 48 hours for repairs.
After plane slid off runway, 14 injured, 35 flights delayed this morning, runway closed for 48 hours for repairs.
After the accident and evacuation of passengers by slide, the airline moved in maintenance crews who immediately began work to cover up the national flag and Thai Airways International logos on the aircraft. By daylight, the plane was supposedly anonymous. (Photos by Panumas Sanguanwong, Somchai Poomlard)
TRANSPORTATION
Flight delays at Suvarnabhumi airport
9/09/2013
Amornrat Mahitthirook and Saritdet Marukatat
All outbound flights from Suvarnabhumi are being delayed for up to 30 minutes and incoming flights are about 15 minutes late because part of the eastern runway is closed for 48 hours following the crash landing by a Thai Airways International Airbus.
Airports of Thailand Plc board chairman Sita Divari said on Monday the delays were unavoidable as the eastern runway was only partially usable in the wake of the accident.
The runway is open only to small aircraft. All medium- and wide-bodied planes have been directed to use the western runway until work crews tow the crashed aircraft away and repair the damaged runway, he said.
About 35 flights were delayed this morning.
THAI flight TG679 crashed on landing and skidded off the eastern runway about 11.20pm on Sunday.
The aircraft slide damaged 300 metres of the runway surface and AoT decided to close that section for 48 hours for repair, Sqn Ldr Sita said. AoT has reserved Don Mueang in Bangkok and U-tapao airports in Rayong for emergency if the situation worsens, he added.
The damaged runway could reopen earlier if repair completes, the AoT chairman said.
All airlines using the Thai main airport have been informed about the closed runway and alerted about delays that might occur.
The accident injured 14 people, six of them being treated at Samitivej Hospital and the rest released, according to THAI.
THAI president Sorajak Kasemsuvan said all injured will be taken care of by the airline for six months.
The national carrier will pay $200 for luggage delays for business class passengers and $100 for economy class customers travelling on the flight, he added.
The airline has set up a panel to look into the cause of the accident, while an independent panel was formed by the Department of Civil Aviation to investigate the case.
Mr Sorajak said the captain and air crew did their best in helping the passengers, most of them Chinese tourists, after the accident and defended that the airport's decision to obscure its logo and names of the damaged aircraft was the normal procedure.
Former independent candidate for the Bangkok governor Kosit Suvinitjit was one of the 288 passengers on board the flight.
He told the FM100.5 station that the aircraft landed smoothly first and then it veered to the right with a loud noise. "I looked out of the window and saw two parts of the plane removed," said Mr Kosit, who sat in the business class section. "I saw smoke and then heard the captain ordering an emergency evacuation."
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/368790/suvarnabhumi-flight-delays-up-to-30-mins
