ACM Siwakiat Jayema, THAI Acting President, said that flight TG047 from Khon Kean to Bangkok, operated with Airbus A330-300 aircraft, slipped off Runway 21 during taxiing at the u-turn in preparation for take-off, resulting in the aircraft’s nose landing gear being sunk in the ground beside the runway on 3 November 2014 at approximately 2000 hours. Khon Kaen Airport has been temporarily closed, while the aircraft is being removed from the runway, which is expect to be completed by 4 November 2014. For the initial investigation, the aircraft was only slightly damaged. Nonetheless, THAI will cooperate with Department of Civil Aviation for further investigation to the cause of incident.
THAI provided assistance to passengers and transferred them to a hotel for accommodation last evening (3 November 2014). THAI transferred the first group of 90 passengers to Udon Thani Airport by bus for their flight to Bangkok via TG2003 from Udon Thani to Bangkok operated by THAI Smile which arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 0950 hours, with few passengers choosing to take alternative travel arrangements to Bangkok. THAI continues to assist remaining passengers to take THAI or THAI Smile’s flights back to Bangkok by today. All cancellation and change fees will be waived. For passengers who need to travel Bangkok-Khon Kaen v.v., THAI has arranged busses to take passengers between Khon Kean Airport and Udon Thani Airport on 4 November 2014. THAI regrets any inconvenience to passengers.
For more information or changing the itinerary, passengers may contact THAI contact center at number 0-2356-1111 for 24 hours.