Plane crash in Phuket

[redzonerocker]

my apologies caller
i was indeed referring to the post by guess

[redzonerocker]

Crash raises airline safety fears

17 Sep, 7:55

Dozens of new airlines have been popping up across Asia to meet the industry's booming demand, but a string of deadly accidents has raised fresh concerns about safety - from pilot shortages to the quality of budget carriers.

The Indonesian pilot of the One-Two-Go Airlines plane that skidded off the runway and burst into flames on Thailand's resort island of Phuket, killing him and 88 others, was among scores who have fled their home countries in recent years for better-paying jobs.

The former air force pilot had worked for two now-defunct airlines in Indonesia, including one owned by former dictator Suharto's son. But the country still has 51 carriers, up from a dozen several years ago, illustrating how rapidly the industry is growing in the world's largest region.

"As disposable income increases and economies grow, more people within Asia are travelling," said Richard Pinkham, of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. "That is what is driving low-cost carrier growth."

It's too early to say what caused Flight OG269 to crash in stormy weather, although one aviation expert, citing Thai aviation officials, said the pilot reportedly asked to circle around again because he could not see the runway, but the plane was already too low.

"It was hit by wind shear or strong winds and he didn't have time to react," said Tom Ballantyne, chief corespondent for Orient Aviation magazine, adding that the bigger question was whether the airport should have been allowing planes to land in such weather.

Many of the victims were foreigners, heading to one of Asia's top tourist destinations, which is now served by eight low-cost carriers. Only big international airlines, like Thai Airways, flew there a few years ago.

Ballantyne urged travellers to do their homework when choosing flights.

"Look for accidents or safety issues," Ballantyne said. He also recommended airlines connected to strong parent companies - such as Jetstar, operated by Australia's Qantas Airways, or Tiger Airways, which is 49 per cent owned by Singapore Airlines.

One-Two-Go Airlines is tied to Thailand's Orient-Thai Airlines, which has had its own share of problems over the past few years. One plane nearly clipped a tower in Tokyo's city centre while landing and others were issued warnings in South Korea for having outdated passenger safety manuals, he said.

[HHTel]

Regarding reports of Iranian survivors, the published list of survivors only shows 3 as being Iranian!!

[Guess]

I'm sure I read on a website somewhere (BBC?maybe), within the last week, that showed pictures of the emergency services at Phuket Airport practicing there fire drills. Coincidence?

Far too many coincidences seem to surround this strange war we are currently involved in. Now we have Israel on the scene. The One 2 Go list Dave posted has missed out a few nationalities in their list and Israel is not mentioned however there apparently two survivors plus 8 dead.

Are we supposed to believe that this was a routine flight and just happened on that day to have a massively un-proportional number of opposing middle eastern nationalities on it. Also what is suspicious to me is why are the holding back the names of these Israelis (survivors). I appreciated that the dead are not named until it is absolutely certain that their relatives have been informed.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asi ... 968743.ece

[STEVE G]

I think the number of Iranians on board the ill fated flight could have something to do with Ramadan having just started. Wealthy and less hard-line Muslims tend to take their holidays during this period to avoid the religious police.

[DawnHRD]

Guess,

It's hardly suspicious that there were Israelis among the dead. A lot of Israeli backpackers come to Thailand, particularly to the islands etc for the full moon parties & raves. Young Israelis are a common sight on the resort islands.

[Guess]

Both the above explanations are acceptable. Maybe I am being over suspicious. The Israeli presence may well be accounted for, however statistically they do not show up in those proportions elsewhere in Thailand and I would have thought a Muslim Island would not be the ideal choice when just across the peninsular you have Koh Samui and Koh Pan Ngan. I am also aware that it can become unbearably hot in the middle east until the end of September and cloudy, rainy Koh Phuket may just be the place to go for a break.

As for the Iranians though I can except STEVE's theory but if true why was there not an equal number of other Ramadam policed nationalities on board. Pattaya is full of Lebanese, Syrians, Emirates, Egyptians, Libyans and Algerians. These are all countries where it an offense to be caught eating in the daylight hours in public.

Phuket and other southern resorts seems to be the favored area for Malays during Ramadan.

All speculation I know but it still does not explain why the Israeli survivors are not named. It is also a very strange coincidence that the aircraft was traveling to one of the only International airports in Thailand where false Visa stamps are easy to obtain. This is not just hearsay, I have been offered false stamps from Phuket many times and have seen at least three since the fall of the Thaksin regime.

[dtaai-maai]

A more relevant line of speculation would be the safety of budget airlines in SE Asia.

[Jaime]

And in the 'developing' world in general. Just look at the locations and carriers for recent air disasters on this timeline:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/2008892.stm

[dtaai-maai]

Thanks Jaime, a link which makes me wonder what the ratio of accidents is between the major national airlines and the smaller nationals and privately owned companies and charters. Also between the bigger more modern planes (say 747 onwards) and the rest.

[redzonerocker]

the safety issue has become more prominent over the recent years with the emergence of so many low cost airlines.the competition is fierce & maybe money & profits take precedence over the safety of passengers at times.
i am more wary when abroad about flying with some of these airlines, especially in asia.
air travel is supposed to be one of the safest forms of travel, but the error of judgement is very small & if a plane does have an accident the chance of survival is very low.
this initial signs about this particular accident seems to be pointing towards the poor weather conditions.

[STEVE G]

One factor with budget airlines is that the crew can be under pressure to complete a flight under un-favourable conditions because the small profit margins on these flights mean that a diversion or cancellation is proportionally much more damaging than for a traditional carrier. A larger carrier will normally factors these costs in over the network and so accept that it will happen on a percentage of flights and have the support for hotels, alternative travel etc.
This is obviously not supposed to happen and will never be in writing, but pilots for budget airlines will tell you that it happens.

[mil_dos]

No need for conspiracy theories. This is a link to a pilot's discussion on what happened. The comments on insurance cover are pretty frightening on top of everything else. It speaks volumes for the type of airline they are.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread ... page=7[url][/url]

[Jaime]

Surprise!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 000919.stm