AirAsia flight forced to land in Phuket – twice

MAI KHAO: AirAsia flight FD3024 from Phuket to Bangkok was forced to land twice shortly after takeoff at Phuket International Airport (PIA) yesterday evening.

A passenger on the flight told a Gazette source, “I heard the sound of wind rushing and then the engines roar [shortly after takeoff] and thought something had happened, but the crew didn’t tell the passengers exactly what was happening.”

After the initial takeoff, the plane landed back on the runway. After a short delay, the pilot attempted a second takeoff, only to be forced to land the aircraft again.

The source added that he later heard that the plane was forced to land because a door had not been sealed properly.

Aroonporn Sangduangyang, AirAsia’s duty executive at PIA, today told the Gazette, “The 6:15 pm flight from Phuket to Bangkok was forced to land twice yesterday. There was a technical problem, but the pilot was trying to get the passengers [to Bangkok] on time as our next flight was at 9:50 pm.”

K. Aroonporn explained that the aircraft’s flight system warns the pilot with an alarm if any doors are not sealed properly. In this instance, the pilot received no warning before takeoff that any doors had yet to be closed fully.

“It was not a serious situation,” she added.

However, K. Aroonporn declined to confirm whether a faulty door was the reason for the two landings.

“We transfered some passengers to our next flight at 9:50 pm, but some of them did not want to fly that late, so we transferred their tickets to fly with another airline,” K. Aroonporn said.

Flight FD3024 did eventually make it to Bangkok.

“If we are not 100% ready, we will not take off,” she added.