pe7e Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 Around 400 passengers have refused to reboard a Phuket Air flight on its way to London gatwick and are now stranded in the UAE after an aborted take off caused by fule streaming from the wings. Time to buy some new planes methinks :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 Frightened passengers ground fuel-spill flight By Jano Gibson and PA April 4, 2005 - 12:25PM Page Tools Email to a friend Printer format An airliner which was forced to abort take-off twice after alarmed passengers spotted fuel spewing from a wing, is set to make a third attempt. Britons have told of their frantic efforts to stop the Phuket Air flight taking off at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. The flight from Bangkok to Gatwick was forced to abort takeoff twice after refuelling, according to some passengers. According to one witness, passengers screamed and refused to sit in their seats as they demanded the pilot abandon his attempt to get the plane in the air. Three hours later, the pilot tried for a second take-off after the Boeing 747-300 was fixed, but passengers again spotted fuel spillage and the plane remained grounded, she claimed. Some 400 Britons were stuck in the desert stop-off overnight. The duty manager at Sharjah International Airport told smh.com.au that the plane has been fixed and is due for departure in a few hours, Advertisement Advertisement ``They (Phuket Air) said departure will be between 6am and 7am (1pm AEST). Flight is ready, fixed everything,'' Sultan al-Mazem said. Passenger Michelle Richards, 53, of England, told smh.com.au the flight had been delayed by several hours. ``Providing they can reassure us ... I think we'll get back on the plane,'' she said. But Ms Richards, who is being put up at the Sharjah Airport Hotel, said other passengers were more fearful about reboarding the plane. ``There's quite a few who aren't prepared to get back on the flight so I don't know what's going to happen when we get to the airport this morning,'' she said. She said the cabin had been filled with screams as the plane gathered speed for take-off. ``As the plane was going down runway we heard this shouting. We just wondered what was going on. Everybody was saying: `Stop, stop','' she said. It wasn't until the plane taxied back to the terminal that she and her travelling companion learned that the mid-take-off drama was sparked after passengers spotted a fuel leak. Ben Cooper said the incident triggered memories of a transport accident he escaped uninjured. Mr Cooper, an English scientist, was on board the Queensland Tilt Train that crashed near Bundaberg last November injuring almost everyone on board. He said the experience of two transport accidents in such a short period had made him an extra-careful traveller. ``You just prepare for things a bit more. You make sure you know where the emergency exits are,'' he said. He said before yesterday's flight was aborted passengers had been made more alert because the pilot had announced there was a fire danger because fuel had been spilt during refuelling. Mr Cooper was sitting above the wing and was unable to see the fuel leaking from the underside of the wing when passengers raised the alarm. Jane Shackleton, 68, from Freshwater, Isle of Wight, was returning from a holiday in Phuket with her family. She told her son Richard in London: "It was terrifying. Everyone was on their feet shouting and screaming for the plane to stop after a man next to the window started yelling that fuel was pouring down from the wing over the engine pod. "We were all thinking about the Concorde crash a few years ago." Mrs Shackleton was travelling with her daughter, son-in-law and their three children, aged 12, 11, and four and a 16-year-old niece. Her son-in-law Dr Peter Hill, 46, also from the Isle of Wight, said: "There is no way I will allow my wife and three children to board that plane again. They are just too frightened." Mrs Shackleton telephoned her son in London shortly after the aborted take-offs early this morning. Richard Shackleton told the Press Association last night: "It sounded like complete and utter ghastly panic as a man leapt up from his seat yelling there was fuel everywhere when the plane was beginning to accelerate. "There is some confusion. The airport are saying the plane will be fixed overnight and be made available for takeoff first thing tomorrow morning but a large number of passengers are refusing to get on the plane because the children are deeply, deeply upset." He said the British embassy in Dubai was helping to find alternative flights for the passengers. A Foreign Office spokesman said he was aware of the incident and officials in Dubai were looking into the details of what happened. He said: "We understand they have all been put up in a hotel at the airport and our officials are trying to investigate what happened over there." A Foreign Office spokesman later said: "The reports we have got are that it was a routine refuelling stop. "On takeoff after refuelling, fuel was seen to be leaking by the passengers so the flight was abandoned. "All the passengers are to be accommodated overnight in hotels in the area and they will all be given evening meals and breakfast. "Then arrangements will be made for them to continue their onward flight." The Foreign Office confirmed it was a Phuket Air flight. The Press Association was unable to contact a spokesman for the airline at its Bangkok or UK offices tonight. PA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglesoup Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 (in the uK)I heard this on the radio on the way to work and when I heard about them trying to contact the Bangkok office I just knew it was Phuket airlines. I had nt such a nice experience with them when I flew from Bangkok to Gatwick. We were waiting for the take off and while we were making our way to the runway and the engines were starting to move up a few notches, all of a sudden the engines cut out and the plane went into darkness, while the plane rolled forward under its own momentum. 30 seconds later the lights came on again and as the engines warmed up again the same thing happened again. It just seemed like a complete power cut off. Everyone was looking at each other,including the cabin crew. All of us were abit worried. In the end we took off and everything went ok, aprt from the unscheduled stop off in Dubai. I really think I would pay a little extra when I come back. The guy on the flight with me said that the 747's they use have been in flight since the early seventies. FLY WITH CAUTION and to make matters worst the food is shit. BAck to Singapore airlines again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 Ya, they are old planes. The newest one was delivered to the original owner in March 1985! The scary bit is that several were retired by other airlines, even one by an African carrier, Cameroon Airlines. Makes ya feel good getting on that one, doesn't it? Here is Phuket Air's 747 fleet: Tail Number HS-VAA Boeing 747-206M/EUD; c/n 21848 Received by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 21.09.1979, converted (to what?) 01.1985, sold to Phuket Airlines on 17.12.2003 Tail Number HS-VAV Boeing 747-206M/EUD; c/n 21659; Received by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 15.05.1979, leased to Phuket Airlines on 22.12.2003 Tail Number HS-VAO Boeing 747-2U3B; c/n 22246; Received by Garuda Indonesia Airlines 02.07.1980, sold to Phuket Airlines on 26.12.2003 Tail Number HS-VAU Boeing 747-2U3B; c/n 22247; Received by Garuda Indonesia Airlines 03.07.1980, sold to Phuket Airlines on 31.12.2003, leased to Saudi Arabian Airlines 12.2004 Tail Number HS-VAB Boeing 747-312; c/n 23033 Received by Singapore Airlines 20.03.1985, leased to Ansett Australia 16.03.1997, returned to Singapore Airlines 21.09.1998, retired and sold to Wilmington Trust Company 09.01.2001, leased to Cameroon Airlines 24.10.2001, subleased to Albarka Air in 23.01.2003, returned to Cameroon Airlines who retired it 01.09.2003 and it was sold to Phuket Airlines on 16.12.2004 Tail Number HS-VAC Boeing 747-306M c/n 23056 Received by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 30.09.1983, renumbered 24.01.1991, retired 09.01.2004, sold to NYE Asset Management Company, leased by Phuket Airlines on 20.10.2004 Thanks to http://www.thai-aviation.com and http://www.planemad.net for the data. Cheers, SD (aer-y-o-plane geek) PS -- Orient Thai Airways (One-2-Go) however, wins the elderly aircraft award. There are flying a 747 with the following history: Tail Number HS-UTH Boeing 747-146; c/n 20532; Received by Japan Airlines 08.12.1972, converted to Japan Asia Airways livery 26.07.1992, returned to Japan Airlines 09.05.1993 and retired; sold to Orient Thai Airways 01.02.2002! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 <<Received by Singapore Airlines 20.03.1985, leased to Ansett Australia 16.03.1997, returned to Singapore Airlines 21.09.1998, retired and sold to Wilmington Trust Company 09.01.2001, leased to Cameroon Airlines 24.10.2001, subleased to Albarka Air in 23.01.2003, returned to Cameroon Airlines who retired it 01.09.2003 and it was sold to Phuket Airlines on 16.12.2004 >> Man, who are Albarka Air? makes you think! DOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo_bill Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 nd, Telephone Albarka Air is 234 9 5233554 Abuja , Nigeria. Airline Code F4 . Have a safe journey. BuBi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo_bill Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 suadum, ** Received by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 21.09.1979, converted (to what?) 01.1985 ** Used to be a semi cargo , as KLM had many . Passengers in front , cargo aft. BuBi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 buffalo_bill said:Used to be a semi cargo, as KLM had many . Passengers in front , cargo aft. oOoo, yeaaaahhhh! I remember those! They were funky. As always, BuBi, you da man. Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 Cast offs from Cameroon Air BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 <<Cast offs from Cameroon Air BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA >> is that the sound of passangers on a Phuket Air Flight? I flew Garuda once, everytime we landed, everyone applauded. Was very worrying DOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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