Qantas 747 accident closes airport runway

BANGKOK (AFP): One runway at Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport was closed today after a jet belonging to the Australian airline Qantas ploughed off the end of it while landing in heavy rain last night. None of the 410 passengers and crew aboard the plane was seriously injured, a Qantas spokeswoman said, but the Boeing 747 sustained damage to the nose, landing gear, engines and possibly the fuselage after skidding off the end of the runway. Prompted by the possibility of an explosion, emergency crews rushed to the scene to drain tons of fuel from the jetliner. Although the Qantas spokeswoman said that the cause of the accident had not yet been established, initial reports indicated that the aircraft may have aquaplaned – skidded like a hydroplane along the surface of rainwater on the runway – rendering its brakes useless. A Qantas technical team was expected to arrive from Sydney later today to join the Thai National Air Safety Commission investigation at the accident site. “It will take a few days before the airline completes its investigation and salvages the airplane,” airport managing director Commander R.N. Uthai Thaisanthad said. Uthai said he did not expect the closure of the eastern runway to create any problems, with the western runway able to handle the traffic. “It should not cause any problem as we can accommodate some 34 to 36 landings at peak hours … there may be slight delays, but no major problems,” he said.