A drill involving real fire was conducted in the fire pit next to the airport’s runway 27, the first and only in Phuket International Airport.
The exercise began at 10am with flame roaring and black smoke billowing over the runway. Airport firefighters approached the blaze and put the flames down. Then other emergency and medical teams joined the action providing help and care to ’victims’. The drill was deemed a success.
The scenario of the drill – an aircraft on fire on the runway – is what emergency personnel may encounter in case of a hard landing, such as the one that took place on Feb 22.
As reported by Phuket Info Center, a Thai Smile Airbus A320 suffered undisclosed engine problems and made an emergency landing at Phuket International Airport at around 1pm on that day.
The A320 made a “hard landing” with a tailstrike on the runway, confirmed the report by Phuket Info Center, which operates under the Phuket Provincial Office.
The pilots managed to bring the plane to a halt and all passengers disembarked safely. The runway was closed for an hours while repairs were made. The aircraft was handed over to technicians for checks and repairs as well.
Airports of Thailand Phuket branch (AoT Phuket) has yet to recognise the safety incident directly to the public. On Feb 22, the day of the hard landing, AoT Phuket had only one public post on its official Facebook page. Four hours after the incident, the enterprise reported donating drinking water to three local schools for their sports event that they are holding today (Feb 24).
JohnC | 25 February 2023 - 09:24:53