Thai Airways Plane Skids off Runway, 14 Injured

An Airbus 330-300, with Thai Airways, crash landed in Bangkok on Sunday, September 8, 2013, due to

the failure of the aircraft’s landing gear and an issue with its wheel base. 14 of the 288 passengers were

injured. Two remain in the hospital, and most were hurt while exiting the aircraft. Meanwhile, the

airport has closed the runway, and Thai Airways has blacked out the logo on the aircraft.

The Airbus 330-300 was carrying 14 crew members and 288 passengers from Guangzhou, China as it

landed into at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The airplane’s emergency slides inflated and it

stopped with its nose down. Originally, it was thought that 13 passengers were injured while evacuating

the plane. The number was changed to 14. Thai Airways President SorajakKasemsuvan stated that,

“After touchdown at Suvarnabhumi Airport, the landing gear malfunctioned and caused the aircraft to

skid off the runway. Sparks were noticed from the vicinity of the right landing gear near the engine; the

matter is under investigation.”

SmudPoom-On, an official at Thai Airways, explained that the logo was blacked out on the plane using a

crane in order to protect the image of Thai Airways and of Star Alliance. The action of blacking out the

logo on the body and tail of the aircraft follows the “crisis communication rule” set forth by Star

Alliance. Airbus has not commented on the event so far, and sent an investigative team to the scene.

Less than two weeks ago, another airplane (an Airbus A380) with Thai Airways crash landed at the

airport in Hong Kong after coming into contact with turbulence. 20 people were injured in the crash

landing.

Flight 214, a Boeing 777 with Asiana Airlines, crash landed and skidded down the runway on July 6, 2013

at San Francisco International Airport in the United States. The Chinese airlines offered $10,000 to each

surviving passenger after the crash. 180 people of the 307 people on the plane were injured and three

young, teenage girls were killed. It was later proven that one of the girls was killed after the crash by a

rescue vehicle with the fire department. An Asiana spokesperson said the $10,000 was meant to be used

for medical bills, compensation, transportation and more. The families of the victims of the crash who

lost their lives were also compensated.

The pilot flying Flight 214 had never landed a Boeing 777 before, and the instructor pilot was conducting

his first flight as an instructor. Various parties are suing Asiana for not properly training pilots before

allowing them to conduct flights. Lawsuits are also being filed against Boeing, the manufacturer of the

plane, because the aircraft’s auto-throttle system failed during the landing. Flight 214 was flying too

slowly and too low to make a safe descent into San Francisco.

In another plane crash, two pilots died while flying a UPS cargo plane (UPS Flight 1354) into Birmingham,

Alabama. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation into the accident.