Somchai Sawasdeepon,
acting president of Airports of Thailand, said that during the 6.30-hour
closure from 9pm to 3.30am, 16 flights were affected. Five arrival
flights were diverted to Suvarnabhumi Airport, Don Mueang Airport,
Penang and Kuala Lumpur.
Once the airport was reopened, Silk Air and Business Air flights took off to Singapore and China, respectively.
"The
closure period is in line with our preparation plan. It didn’t take
long time for a tyre change, but we needed to focus fully on debris as
that could cause accidents," he said. The issue would be discussed with
the risk management working committee, to see if the preparation needs
to be revised.
More than 1,000 passengers were stranded at Phuket
International Airport last night after an emergency landing by an Air
Berlin flight forced authorities to cancel all inbound and outbound
flights.
Air Berlin flight AB-7425 from Phuket to Abu Dhabi, in
the United Arab Emirates, took off from Phuket at its scheduled time of
9:26pm, but was forced to make an emergency landing about 40 minutes
later due to a reported engine fire.
The plane made a safe
landing and no injuries were reported, but the aircraft burst several
tyres during the emergency procedure.
With the aircraft still on
the runway, officials diverted all flights from the airport, leaving a
total of 1,016 passengers stranded overnight, said an airport press
release.
Many were forced to seek accommodation on the island, while hundreds slept at the airport.
Phuket
Airport reopened at 3:35am after the Air Berlin Airbus 330-200 was
removed from the runway, said Airport Director Prathuang Sornkham.
"Several
of the aircraft's tires burst during the emergency landing. It took
seven hours to replace the tires before we could move the plane to
safety," explained Airport Director Prathuang.
"We are now waiting for mechanics to arrive to inspect the engine and determine what the fault was," he added.
Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut arrived at the airport last night to speak with passengers stranded at the terminal.
"The passengers seem to understand that this was an unforeseeable event and that we are we doing the best we can," he said.
Air Berlin today issued a statement over the incident.
"Air
Berlin confirms that an incident took place today on flight AB7425 from
Phuket to Abu Dhabi. The Airbus A330 was able to land safely in Phuket;
all 249 passengers are safe and were able to disembark normally via the
steps.
"No precise details are known at present regarding the incident. It cannot be confirmed that the engine caught fire.
"Air
Berlin is already in dialogue with the local authorities and is
assisting them in their investigation of the incident. For the time
being, Air Berlin's main priority is to take care of its passengers on
the ground in Phuket," the statement said.
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com
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