Two flights report problems, turn back to Bangkok

– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

PHUKET: A domestic flight of Thai AirAsia – and a long haul Bangkok-London flight of Thai Airways International – both made emergency landings yesterday due to technical problems.

Thai AirAsia’s flight FD3254 departed from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok at 11.10am for Khon Kaen in the Northeast yesterday. But it returned to Don Mueang shortly after take-off when pilots detected an irregularity in the storage compartment area.

Airline officials said the flight was allowed to resume service after engineers ruled out technical problems.

“After departure from Don Mueang International Airport, the pilots detected a minor irregularity in the storage area, [and were] concerned about safety. The flight returned to land at Don Mueang for inspection,” the airline said in a statement.

“Engineers did not discover any issues compromising the safety of the flight FD3254,” it said.

The incident did not cause any cancellations to service and the plane arrived at its destination about an hour later than scheduled.

On the same day, an international flight of Thai Airways International – TG 916 – which left from Suvarnabhumi International Airport at 1.20pm bound for London, returned to land at the same airport. Pilots reported a problem regarding the hydraulic system.

In its statement, the airline said the aircraft was an Airbus A340-600, carrying 266 passengers to the United Kingdom. Engineers were checking the aircraft to search for the problem.

Passengers were transferred to another aircraft and departed to London at 4.30pm – three hours later than scheduled.

— Phuket Gazette Editors