Phuket Air Explains Itself

MORE than a hundred British holidaymakers stranded in the Middle East after their aircraft developed a fuel leak were delayed again when their replacement jet broke down.
The passengers were due to arrive back at Gatwick last night, almost 60 hours late.

The replacement aircraft sent by Phuket Air was found to be dangerously low on fluid for its hydraulic systems when it arrived in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.

The passengers had been waiting in Sharjah since Sunday after refusing to reboard their original ageing Boeing 747-200.

The pilots of that aircraft had earlier been forced to abort take-off after passengers spotted fuel gushing from the wings. Holidaymakers threatened to storm the cockpit if the aircraft was not grounded.

Some of the passengers agreed to board the aircraft later but more than a hundred refused and said that they would wait for another flight.

Phuket Air said that the passengers had only themselves to blame for the extra delay as they should have accepted the Thai airline company’s assurances that the aircraft was safe.

Gordon MacFarland, Phuket Air’s UK sales manager, said that the replacement aircraft had been fixed within two hours but there was a further delay of several hours while the crew persuaded everyone that it was safe to board. “I have been informed by one passenger that the delay to the original flight was caused by a group of typical drunken Brits. About a hundred people opted to stay on in Sharjah for another night by their own choice.

“We will not be compensating them because there was no technical problem with the aircraft. People were fed and watered in Sharjah. We feel that is compensation enough for the panic and aggravation caused.”

One passenger, Matthew Cripps, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, claimed that Phuket Air had left passengers without food or drinks for more than ten hours.

He said that the airline told travellers “something different every 20 minutes”.

Passengers were hauled from their hotels at about 2am local time yesterday to go to Sharjah with the promise that they were finally going home.

Speaking from Sharjah, Mr Cripps said: “It’s a horrible, nasty situation and some people have been here for three days now. Everybody just wants to get home. It’s a crazy situation. Many people do not feel safe getting on the flight even if it gets fixed. They are frightened to fly Phuket Air.”

The company said that the original fuel leak had been caused by ground staff at Sharjah overfilling the fuel tanks.

Phuket Air said that Civil Aviation Authority inspectors had checked the first aircraft after it landed at Gatwick yesterday and had found no problems.

A couple of things that will cause fuel venting on the 74 classic. One is on refuel, cold fuel into the tanks (especially the reserves that will be full) can expand in the heat and vent, another is someone pulling the vol fill fuse (and forgetting to refit it) to get around a tank shutting off early. The other is a broken vent float valve in one of the tanks allowing fuel into the vent system and from there into the surge tank and overboard.

There was a a similar incident in India towards the end of 2003 , soon after Air Deccan started operations. One of their inaugural flights from Hyderabad with an ATR full of passengers had a venting incident on start up. Unfortunately the then Minister of Civil Aviation was sight seeing out of the window and promptly came to the "heroic rescue" of his fellow passengers (most of who were fellow politicians - such an invaluable national asset) by screaming FIRE and exiting the aircraft post haste! The minister then went on to enjoy his ten minutes of glory by speaking to every media channel within reach about his heroic act, much to the glee of the full service competitors of Air Deccan like Jet and Sahara whose officials for months afterwards never forgot to whisper to willing and unwilling ears about the risks of flying a low cost airline pointing to the above "accident". All the time, the Air Deccan guys had to grit their teeth, grin and bear it !!

Fortunately the bureaucrats under the honourable minister had enough sense to keep quiet and encourage the minister not to do anything drastic (unlike a previous bloke who promptly grounded the Indian Airlines A320s without any sort of investigation after the tragic accident at Bangalore). As I understand in the case of Air Deccan , the same aircraft flew the next day (not sure whether the VIPs were on board!).

Statement on Phuket Air Aircraft Incident
By Captain Chawanit Chiamcharoenvut
Executive Vice President, Phuket Air

According to the news reporting about the Phuket Air Bangkok-London flight no. 9R618 incident, I would like to confirm that there was no flame and sparking as claimed in the news reports.

Following is the chronology of the incident:

Phuket Air operated flight no. 9R618 from Bangkok to London Gatwick on Saturday 2 April 2005. As a usual schedule, the aircraft stopped at Sharjah Airport, United Arab Emirates, at 04:30 am. next morning (local time) for re-fuelling prior to continuing the flight to London. After the completion, the aircraft was pushed back (had not yet started the engine) to be ready to taxi to the runway. During that time, there was an incident of fuel spillage from the aircraft’s wing due to the excessive fuel in the surge tank. The pilot took the aircraft back to the parking bay to have the excessive fuel drained from the surge tank.

After the first drain, there was still some leftover. The plane was then taken back to the parking bay to re-drain the fuel. After that, the pilot has started the engine and prepared to take off again. During the aircraft turning from the taxi way to runway, the leftover fuel visibly spilled out from the aircraft wing. At that time, a few passengers who saw the spillage were panic, misunderstood and screamed “fire”. A flight attendant then reported to the pilot about the situation. The pilot then decided to return to the parking bay to ensure utmost safety and passengers’ comfort.

During thorough examination, Phuket Air decided to accommodate all 366 passengers to rest in hotels in Sharjah on Phuket Air’s expenses.

The next morning, Phuket Air welcomed passengers on board the same aircraft. The aircraft arrived London safely.

As soon as the plane landed, Department of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), United Kingdom, conducted a complete examination of the aircraft and concluded that the aircraft is in good condition and ready to be operated as usual. The same aircraft transported passengers from London back to Bangkok on normal flight schedule.

However, during the Sharjah’s incident, a group of passengers refused to board the same aircraft. Phuket Air offered those passengers with extended accommodations while they awaited for next Phuket Air flight from Bangkok. For those who intended to fly with other airlines, Phuket Air had facilitated their requests. As of today, there is no passenger left at Sharjah. The aircraft had already left Sharjah at 15.35 hrs. (local time) and is scheduled to arrive London Gatwick at 19.35 hrs. (local time).

On behalf of Phuket Air, I reiterate that we always consider our passengers’ safety as the first priority and we take all responsibility for passengers during the aircraft transfer.