One Two Go 269 Crash in Phuket

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Watching the events of an airplane crash a day later on television from half a world away is one thing. Watching it unfold as it was happening is quite another. I live ten minutes from this airport, and the day it happened, I was home, having my Thai girlfriend "translate" what was going on in the television reports. Amazing how the story changed every five minutes; at first, the plane had crashed into a mountain top. As my Thai company owns a bunch of land on the mountaintop next to the airport, well, I knew the area well. But eventually, the story that came out, and that was eventually reported to the worldwide press, was, well, not exactly what we think happened....

We know the airline well. Budget doesn't describe it. I've heard stories from people in the know about the abuses, the overwork, the less experienced pilots, the poor pay, etc, etc. In fact, the pilot that was on this plane was the senior training pilot for the airlines. He had about 14000 hours in the air; just enough, for any major airline, to put one in the first officer's seat. In this airline, he was the chief captain, in charge of training.

Scary, to say the least.

They hire a lot of Indonesian pilots; who, also tend to be Muslim. Read the following email, as there is a comment in it which is downright frightening. The Indonesian pilots are not as good as any of the others, but they work for less money.

I've been told that this pilot, tended to fall asleep at the wheel, so to speak, quite often. Also, he had been flying for the previous fifteen hours, and for the previous thirty before that, had been on "standby". Obviously, he was exhausted. It's quite common for this airline to completely ignore the normal hourly limits that pilots and crew have to adhere by. We also know that this pilot had his license temporarily revoked, for health reasons, apparently for about two months. The cause of the temporary revokation appeared to be exhaustion, but no one knows for sure. The airline has an awful technical support and maintenance service, as I've been told.

Well, from looking at the crash site, as we have seen it here, we have different theories as to what has been reported, as to the reason to this crash. But first, an email from one pilot from this airline, to another, about the captain that died on the flight.

Hi Glyn

Thank you for the note. Yes am ok, but when all the facts come out, like
most crashes it will be found it was totally unnecessary but was destined to happen.

The captain was an Indonesian who was the chief pilot. I had almost
brought him to a physical altercation on severa l occasions with my taunting of him. I was highly critical of him for allowing and promoting the incredible abuse of duty and flight time limitations. (1300 to 1500 hours flying calendar year 2006) Guys flying 130 hours per month. Work schedules of 9 straight days and sometimes more. I would go up to him and ask him to sign a document (blank sheet of paper) saying company asked me to fly illegally again. I told them I would as soon as he would sign the papers allowing it. It drove him nuts. I kept doing it.

The man had failed his medical recently and was grounded for two months. He must have suffered from low blood sugar because all my First Officers would complain or laugh that he would always fall asleep in the aftern oon flights. Apparently he recognized this and asked to be scheduled for early morning flights. The crash occurred at 3:40 pm.

The flight controls had to be taken from him on at least two occasions.
One highly documented case occurred with the prime minister of Afghanistan on board. A safety pilot had observed his incompetence, reported the incident to company and he was removed from all subsequent flights with the prime minister.

I laugh at my fellow Indonesian pilots. Of course they come to his
defense in this crash with the words that "it was an act of God". Maybe they are right.... God says you want to be a dumb shit, you deserve to die.

Glyn... he killed 3 very close friends of mine and I will never forgive
him and I am not sure I can forgive myself. My only real purpose here was to teach the new Thai F/O s how to save their lives from people like Arief. Of the new Thai First Officers, Montri was the best. [Montri died in this crash] In fact Montri had just been hired by Thai Airlines with a class date in October. Montri had been particularly emotionally abused by this company. They did not really receive good instruction coming out of the simulators. He sat for two months before he did his
bounces in the plane and he failed the first time. The company took 20,000 baht each month out of his paycheck to pay the costs incurred for a second set of bounces in the plane.

Glyn, I could go on and on with the terrible abuses that go on here. Me,
I was and am physically and emotionally spent. I live everyday not knowing if the next day I will be fired. I have been told I am special here. I do not work illegally or knowingly fly unsafe airplanes. Working with the new pilots have been fun and gratifying. I share stories and lessons I learned from you. For me you re enforced cockpit discipline and attention to detail that I still carry with me. Many times
when I go to the MEL, my thoughts go to you and how you illustrated the importance to refer to it every single time regardless. I thank you and others for what you have taught me. I have no doubt that the mental preparation and discipline that you and &g t;others illustrated to me and I learned from has saved my own life. I thank you so very much.
Sorry for writing so much. Last night was long and these are the first
moments I have had to myself. Much crying and pain here. Cabin crewmembers besides themselves,pleading me to go and bring their crewmembers back. It is a very helpless feeling.Everyone here knows my feelings and that which I have been expressing for two years.

1 week ago I had been interviewed by two representatives from ICAO and had expressed to them that all of the ingredients for a disaster here had manifested itself. Yet I and nobody could do a stupid thing to stop it. Not sure what I will do from here & gt;Glyn, but I will always feel that I failed.... again.

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One Two Go just had another "crash", this time in Had Yai, southern Thailand. They're calling it a crash because of the way the plane hit the ground upon landing. Some people were injured slightly. No word on the condition of the plane.

Flying budget airlines in Asia comes with risk. Always stick with the major name carrier brands.

[Maestro]

hey i dont really care about a thai airline even though that is scary and im glad im aware, i just wanted to say the new site is pretty sick, i like it alot and just look how far "we" have come since the first site lolo

[Fa Hui]

I remember the old site...those were the good ol' days. The days when you actually believed what came out of a Shaolin "monk"'s mouth.

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The "old sites" are all in the Site Archives section. In their "entirety".

If you want to get into your rocking chairs and reminisce.

[Fa Hui]

Just as long as I can have my pipe and scotch too....

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This is a very relevant news article from the Phuket Gazette. It makes mention of some things that I said before, when this crash occurred. But more importantly, it demonstrates some of the dangers of flying with some of these budget airlines in Asia. I especially like the comment about the pilots....

One-two-go, Orient Thai hit by 30-day flight suspension

BANGKOK (Nation): One-Two-Go and Orient Thai Airlines risk seeing their aviation licenses revoked if they fail to tackle the defects that led to the suspension of their flight services today.

That possibility comes amid growing concerns about the airlines’ safety standards.

About 40,000 passengers on their booking lists will be affected by the 30-day flight suspension starting today and will receive combined compensation of 70 million baht. They can also opt to be transferred to other airlines operating on the affected routes.

“Orient Thai and One-Two-Go are the second group to face service suspension after Sky Aviation,” Civil Aviation Department Director-General Chaisak Angkasuwan told a press conference yesterday.

“All defects must be solved within 30 days. In case of negligence or incomplete action, the department can further suspend the service or revoke the licenses. The department will file criminal suits against their pilots, inspectors and the companies in two weeks.”

Breaching the Aviation Act, they are liable to no more than six months imprisonment, a 1,000-baht fine or both.

Udom Tantiprasongchai, owner and CEO of both airlines, has vowed to continue in business despite the trouble. He said One-Two-Go was negotiating with a consortium of investors from Hong Kong, the US and Singapore who operate aviation and other businesses in Asia.

One-Two-Go will increase capital and be upgraded to a full-service carrier, so as to compete with rivals, including Thai Airways International, he said. Orient Thai will serve as a cargo and charter flight operator.

One-Two-Go last week said it would suspend services for two months because of financial losses, but the Civil Aviation Department yesterday announced it had suspended the two airlines’ certificates as low-cost carriers for 30 days. They operate with eight MD-80 Series and seven Boeing 474s. All eight MD-80 Series aircraft must be grounded until all defects are corrected; the Boeing 474s can continue operation.

The department will also suspend the licenses of One-Two-Go’s seven pilots – six Indonesians and one Venezuelan – due to false documentation. Two Thai pilots have also been suspended for 30 days on a similar charge.

The Civil Aviation Department said One-Two-Go’s defects lie in a lack of self-quality assurance and quality assurance on leased aircraft. The lessee, Orient Thai, is not allowed to breach safety standards, particularly on scheduling and poor administration. Orient Thai also has no staff of its own and is assisted by One-Two-Go staff.

Moreover, One-Two-Go trained Orient Thai’s pilots with an unwarranted MD-80 series training program. Orient Thai’s training does not follow the manual and the airline submitted false documentation for the pilots’ efficiency tests.

One-Two-Go’s safety standards first came into focus when its plane crashed at Phuket International Airport last year. Lawyers for the British and US families of the 90 victims are seeking UK£125 million (8.32 billion baht) in compensation in US courts in a case that may shed a harsh light on the cost-cutting and safety standards of some budget airlines.