Thread: Phuket Air Crash Cover up

Thai crash investigators probe system problem, human error
09-18-2007, 02h32
PHUKET, Thailand (AFP)

Systems to detect a dangerous wind condition may not have been fully working when a Thai jet crashed killing 89 people, an official said Tuesday.

Investigators are also looking into the possibility that human error was to blame, with air traffic control officials saying the pilot was warned of a weather condition known as wind shear.

Air traffic controllers had warned the Indonesian pilot of wind shear as the plane carrying 130 passengers and crew came in to land on the resort island of Phuket in heavy rain Sunday.

Moments later the One-Two-Go plane skidded off the runway into a wooded embankment and broke up in flames.

"There was a warning of wind shear from the pilot in the previous flight, which landed four minutes ahead," Kumtorn Sirikorn, vice president of the air traffic control body Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, told AFP.

"Air traffic control asked the pilot whether he knew about this wind shear or not, and he said he knew... the pilot insisted he wanted to land."

However, pilot Arief Mulyadi's son had a different account, telling media in Indonesia that he had been told by Phuket authorities that his father had wanted to turn back to Bangkok but the control tower had said he should land.

Wind shear is a sudden change in wind direction that can throw a plane off course but disappear just as quickly, leaving pilots struggling to keep a jet under control.

Vutichai Singhamany, a safety director at the Department of Civil Aviation, said investigators had tested the wind shear detectors at Phuket airport on Tuesday, only to find they did not respond.

"Initial assumption is that the wind shear detection system of Phuket airport was not fully operational at the time the accident occurred," he said.

However, Chaisak Angkasuwan, head of the Department of Civil Aviation, said that even if half of the wind shear detectors were not working, it did not necessarily cause the accident.

One-Two-Go president Udom Tantiprasongchai urged people to wait for the investigation to finish.

"It is too soon to jump to conclusions, it is unfair to our staff," he said.

Chaisawasd Kittipornpaiboon, who is leading the transport ministry's crash investigation, said they were compiling evidence including black box flight records -- which will be sent to the US for analysis -- and the voice recording between the pilot and the control tower.

All but 13 bodies of passengers who died when the plane crashed have been identified, airline and government officials said.

"The identification process of all the dead bodies will be finished no later than in three days," said Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla.

At Phuket airport, some grieving relatives were frustrated by the identification process.

One man from France was searching for his brother, who was listed as one of the passengers travelling on One-Two-Go flight OG 269.

"They asked me to show more evidence, like fingerprints, just to show the people they are doing something. But actually they are not well organised," he told AFP.

He gestured to a board where officials had pinned up photographs of charred and blackened bodies, saying: "I don't think the fingerprints can help."

Iranian embassy officials, who confirmed that 18 Iranians died and six were injured, also expressed exasperation.

"We want to take these bodies back to Iran as soon as possible but the Thai officials aren't allowing us to," said embassy first secretary Safdar Shafiee.

An official with One-Two-Go said that 52 foreigners and 37 Thais died in the crash, although the police put the number of foreign dead at 57.
All Thais have been identified, the official said, and only 13 foreigners remained unidentified.

The airline said the identified dead were from Ireland, Britain, Israel, Germany, Canada, France, United States, Sweden, Iran, Australia and Indonesia.

Embassies in Bangkok and foreign ministries have given their own counts.

The US embassy said five Americans were killed, while the British embassy said several Britons were dead without giving a specific figure.

The French foreign ministry said three citizens had died. Germany, Sweden, Australia and Ireland reported one fatality each.

Health Minister Mongkol said that 38 people remained in hospital, most of them foreigners. Two Britons, two Thais, one French man and a Dutch woman were still in intensive care.

AFP
turkishpress.com

this has been omitted from regional media updates

spitting distance to Krabi ...................

Part of any pre-flight includes filing a flight plan. In that plan, all potential divert airfields are listed and the furthest one determines fuel load.

I also saw a lot of fire, which suggests there was a significant amount of fuel onboard.

My guess is that this retired fighter jet pilot would not feel very competent if he weather-diverted -- because another pilot landed safely just minutes before.

Originally Posted by kingwilly

just asking, but how would the son know what his father said or did immediately before he died?

Maybe he was on his mobile phone whilst landing

Originally Posted by Texpat

Part of any pre-flight includes filing a flight plan. In that plan, all potential divert airfields are listed and the furthest one determines fuel load.

I also saw a lot of fire, which suggests there was a significant amount of fuel onboard.

My guess is that this retired fighter jet pilot would not feel very competent if he weather-diverted -- because another pilot landed safely just minutes before.

The answer may be obvious but bear with me...I saw a report a while back that showed planes routinely ejecting excess fuel prior to landing.

Ejecting fuel may be discretionary, upon the airline or each pilot during flight, and clearly economy plays a part so that some airlines may influence a pilot (if it is his decision) to eject or not. But this would have to be balanced against the added risk of carrying excess fuel, with takeoff and landing being the most critical parts of a flight.

So, who decides to lose money by having their planes eject excess fuel, or bear the added risk of landing with excess fuel?

I would tend to doubt that many planes dump fuel very often.....the bean counters would scream.

Everytime I fly from NKP to Bangkok, the jet flies in and out again without refueling. They have to land here with enough juice to make 1 hour flight time back down to BKK.

Originally Posted by keda

I saw a report a while back that showed planes routinely ejecting excess fuel prior to landing.

Ummm, routinely?
No.

Bad Weather, Pilot responsibe for crash, No Indian victim reported
September 18, 2007
By News Desk

A rapid change in the speed of wind and the pilot's decision to land the plane despite bad weather seems to have led to the horrific event which took away almost 89 lives and left a lot many injured.

The officials of Embassy of India informed thaindian.com that there has not been any information regarding any Indian passengers traveling in the flight although it may take sometime before complete information can be obtained. The embassy officials are working with the airlines to find out more information and are prepared for any appropriate action, should such a situation arise.

The survivors of the crash have asked why the plane had been given permission to land despite a monsoon storm with so fierce winds. People have angrily asked why the airport remained open in such terrible weather condition and why was it not closed for any landing whatsoever.

Meanwhile, HM the King and HM the Queen have donated a total of THB 800,000 to the hospitals of Phuket for the purchase of medical supplies, medicines etc.
thaindian.com


People have angrily asked why the airport remained open in such terrible weather condition and why was it not closed for any landing whatsoever.

happy to see THE QUESTION being asked .................

Wind shear alert was down Officials say system not crucial for landing

POST REPORTERS


Rites for the victims
Phuket airport officials attend a merit-making ceremony near the runway yesterday. Behind them is the covered wreckage of the ill-fated One-Two-Go airliner, which has been moved from the actual accident site further up the runway. Systems to detect dangerous winds at Phuket international airport have emerged as a new factor possibly linked to the horrendous crash of the One-Two-Go flight on Sunday.
Wuttichai Singmanee, director of air safety at the Civil Aviation Department, said three of the six wind shear alert systems at the airport had problems.
''Three out of six low-level wind shear alert systems were not working at the time,'' Mr Wuttichai said in a report by the AP.
An official at Phuket airport who declined to be named told the Bangkok Post that the system run by the Meteorological Department had not functioned for months.
The systems detect sudden strong winds, also known as wind shear, which could cause trouble for a plane landing at the airport.
Officials responsible for the system would normally alert air traffic controllers to warn pilots about the situation on the ground.
These systems are installed at all international airports in Thailand. They are located in areas around the airport.
With investigators still trying to determine the cause of the tragedy, it was unclear yesterday whether the accident, which left 89 people dead and 41 injured, was due to pilot error or weather conditions.
But Mr Wuttichai said even though the wind shear detection system was not fully functional, this would not necessarily lead to an accident.
The airport at Phuket was also equipped with its own, separate wind detecting system and could inform incoming and outgoing planes of the situation, the official said.
''The wind shear alert system is not a requirement for an international aviation standard,'' he said.
A pilot of Thai Airways International (THAI), who asked not to be named, agreed with Mr Wuttichai, saying the wind shear detection system was not crucial for landing or take-off.
Most passenger aircraft nowadays were equipped with their own wind detection equipment, which the pilot could refer to, he said.
Transport permanent secretary Chaisawat Kittipornpaiboon, who is heading the inquiry into the disaster, said wind shear had not been ruled out and it had been the cause of several major airline accidents.
Transport and aviation authorities yesterday appealed to the public not to point the finger at Arief Mulyadi, the chief pilot on the fatal flight.
Chaisak Ungsuwan, director-general of the Civil Aviation Department, said no judgement should be passed before the information on the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder had been analysed.
The recorders, which were retrieved from the wreckage of the plane, were being sent to the United States for analysis, he said. The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 was made in the US.
''I do not want to see any blame heaped on the pilot or any other party involved because it is not fair. We should wait for the results of the examination of the data recorders,'' said Mr Chaisak.
Khajit Hapnanont, chief executive officer of One-Two-Go Airlines, echoed the appeal. He insisted the airline's safety was not lax and that Mr Mulyadi was one of the company's best.
Mr Chaisak, quoting a recorded conversation between the pilot and the flight tower, said flight OG 269 requested landing permission and inquired about weather and wind speed about four minutes after an aircraft owned by Orient Thai Airlines, which owns One-Two-Go, landed safely.
He said flight OG 269 also acknowledged that wind shear had been reported by the other plane before asking for landing approval.
Khanit Promsathit, a THAI pilot, said Phuket airport is a difficult place to land especially at night or in bad weather.
Two critically injured passengers were yesterday flown to a hospital in Bangkok for intensive burn treatment.
Phuket public health office chief Wanchai Sattayawuthiwong said Chainarong Maharae, 38, chief of Bang Muang tambon administration organisation in Phangnga and Ms Bethan Jones, 22, a Briton, sustained 40-60% burns and were transferred to a Bangkok hospital.
Pol Col Pornprasert Kanjanarin, deputy chief of the Foreign Affairs Division, said 36 bodies of Thai victims had been claimed by relatives.
Forensic officials had identified 20 out of the 53 foreigners killed.

Anyone competent out there, hello?

Is Phuket cursed?