Passengers on a seemingly ill-fated Phuket Air jumbo jet endured “an hour of terror” yesterday when it had to return to Gatwick after dumping 50 tonnes of fuel.
According to The Times, the Boeing 747 involved was the same one that made two aborted take-offs in Sharjah after passengers reported seeing fuel coming out of one of the wings.
Passengers on yesterday’s flight had already been delayed overnight because of the previous incident – and just an hour after the jet took off for Bangkok, it was announced that the flight would be returning to Gatwick.
One passenger reportedly told the newspaper that even the crew looked scared: “I fly frequently and I have never seen such fear on the faces of the crew. Knowing they were scared made it so much worse for us. It was the longest hour of my life; there were grown men weeping around me.”
He added: “It was a real rollercoaster ride back to Gatwick and the plane was banking very steeply. We could see the fuel cascading from the wings even as we came in to land.”
The Times failed to draw a response from Phuket Air yesterday, adding that the carrier had previously stated that its jets were no more than 15 years old and were in “excellent condition”.
Indeed, attempts by News From Abroad to solicit a comment, from the airline direct and from its PR company, also failed.
However, the newspaper contacted Boeing, which confirmed that the 747-200s flown by Phuket Air were 25 or 26 years old. The carrier’s Gatwick-to-Bangkok service will be suspended from April 23; the company cites many reasons including a price war and fuel price increases.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd www.newsfromabroad.com
