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THAILAND AIRLINE AND AIRPORT SAFETY – LET’S NOT HAVE A WHITEWASH
David Barkdull

The September 16th crash of One-Two-Go flight OG029 was a terrible tragedy for the victims, their families and friends. Next week the Transport Ministry will convene meetings to review safety standards for all of Thailand’s airports in the wake of the crash. This week Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um is claiming that current standards already comply with international requirement but said they will nevertheless be improved further. Conspicuous by its absence from the meetings will be representatives of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The ICAO promotes understanding and security through cooperative aviation regulation. One would think that the internationally recognized entity that certifies airport safety worldwide would be an essential participant in any meetings related to safety that has the stated goal of raising public confidence of Thailand’s airports.

My understanding is that the largest and newest of Thailand’s airports, purported to become the crown jewel of aviation hubs in Asia, Suvarnabhumi, has no local or international safety certification from anyone to operate. The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) issued a six month Aerodrome Certificate for Suvarnabhumi Airport before it opened but the certificate has expired long ago. Reasons given for Suvarnabhumi Airport not being able to obtain certification of any kind were safety issues. Tens of millions of Baht were needed to fix the substandard runways and millions more was needed to upgrade the substandard communications, safety and flight tracking equipment in the new control tower.

The airport facility itself had some growing pains such as the decision to build a shopping mall to run the passengers through when entering or leaving the terminal. It appeared that the mall concept went wild and degraded passenger safety by making it difficult to transit the terminal, allowing several flagship luxury stores to be constructed over many of the fire exits. It was reported that some of the female employees at the airport were being sexually attacked on the night shift. I hope that safety issue has been resolved.

General Sparang Kalyanamitra, Chairman of the AOT and Acting President Kulya Pakakrong, both suggested installing cameras along every airport runway and outside every terminal. CCTV cameras are always the first remedy to any incident that may have a negative impact on governments throughout the world. Frankly, the public is becoming wise to this obvious scheme used to appease the public and negate pressure on those responsible for any security or safety catastrophe. Maybe cameras are necessary but the bigger questions loom large over the Thai government and the AOT. Where were the fire life safety employees staged during the period of bad weather preceding the crash? Was their equipment adequate to deal with the incident? How long did it take for emergency crews at Phuket airport to arrive on the scene? What weather forecasting equipment, that is required for international certification, was not working at the time of the crash?

I feel that in the public interest that the ICAO should be invited to attend these very important airport safety meetings next week. Additionally, the public should not be overlooked. The public is the end user of the airports and airlines so they will interested in providing input on safety issues both in the air and on the ground. Each and every issue discussed should be published for all to see so we can make informed choices when picking an airline, airport or country for our flying needs.

David Barkdull

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