Phuket Airlines banned from European Union as unsafe

... was banned from using UK airports a while ago anyway.

Yes they were banned from the UK so tried to operate from Amsterdam and were banned from there too.

I had the misfortune to fly from UK to BKK with them in Feb 2005. The following took place:

1.Taxied out with a door open! Flight Engineer, Co Pilot and eventaully Captain came and had a look at something. Not sure what as it was on the other side. At the holding point door slammed shut, all ran upstairs and we took off.

2. Flying Spanner walked around the cabin all night with a torch inspecting the whole cabin an toilets. why?

3.Reading lights would not go out, so changed seats at least 5 times before I found one with the seat belts correctly installed. All the rest were installed inverted, so the buckle came apart TOWARDS you! What was the rest of the maintenance like??

4. Flight home cancelled. No reason given. Only told by text message from my teavel agent to phone BKK....

And that was just me.

As a professional pilot I was appalled and am relieved that 300+ innocent passengers havent been killed.

I see from their website that they now only have two internal routes in Thailand. God help anyone who risks their lives with them.

Gerefan

[wowpow]

BBC NEWS: Bangkok airport: Rebelling passengers had set off from Bangkok

A Thai airline has been banned from flying to the UK after an incident in which passengers stopped a plane taking off, believing there was a fuel leak. Phuket Air did not wish to comment on having its operating licences suspended in the UK and the Netherlands. But the Department for Transport said the ban was due to the "number and severity" of safety breaches found in Civil Aviation Authority inspections. The airline still has a plane impounded at Gatwick due to unpaid landing bills.

'Confidence' Phuket Air did not wish to comment on the licence suspension, but a UK spokeswoman did say the company had chosen to stop flights coming into the UK from 22 April because of a sharp fall in bookings following the tsunami. Hundreds of British tourists stopped a Phuket Air plane taking off from Sharjah Airport in UAE at the beginning of April because they feared fuel was leaking from a wing. They were let off the Bangkok-Gatwick plane, but the airline said ground staff had overfilled a fuel tank and there was no danger to passengers. A second flight sent to pick up the tourists was also delayed at UAE for nearly 11 hours because of further technical trouble, before arriving safely in the UK. Passengers had refused to fly on the first plane after some passengers screamed as "gallons" of fuel "spewed" from the plane's wing, witnesses said. At the time Phuket Air threatened legal action, saying no-one was in danger and that some passengers had caused panic and affray.

Safety standards : A Department for Transport spokesman said a recent inspection by the Civil Aviation Authority on a Phuket Air plane found that the aircraft failed to reach safety standards. The CAA found a faulty collision avoidance system, damaged gearbox and defective emergency lights. The spokesman added: "The faults on the aircraft were only fairly minor and there was nothing to cause major alarm. "

Phuket Air now fly only Bangkok - Yangon and Ranong

[hulljake]

I flew Phuket Air once on their short-lived London Gatwick to Bangkok route. Fortunately our flights were uneventful, and though the plane was showing its age, on the surface, it appeared to be ok! Another benefit was that while this route operated, it drove down the prices of the competition.

hulljake...

Quote " It appeared to be OK" unquote.

You can rest assured it wasnt!

Gerefan