A total of 264 passengers of Thai Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had an impromptu visit to Bali, Indonesia after the pilot diverted the flight due to faulty oil sensor.
News.com.au reported that the Thai Airways aircraft, which was already three hours delayed for departure, was originally bound for Brisbane, Australia from Bangkok. After a few moments in the air, the passengers noticed the plane's change in direction and was informed later that they will be having an emergency landing in Bali due to an error in the plane's oil sensor.
In the same report Paul Pluta, one of the passengers, said that the plane had dumped oils before having a very rough landing in Denpasar. "They normally say "cabin crew arm the doors" before landing, but they didn't say that this time, that means the safety chutes were ready to fire on a bad landing," he said.
An insider from the airline industry was quick to argue that the claims of Mr. Pluta was misguided. "Doors are armed (meaning that the emergency slides will inflate if the door is opened from the inside) from shortly after pushback, and remain so until shortly before arriving at the gate," the insider said. This measure is done to avoid accidental deployment of the chutes when doors are opened.
According to Stuff, the passengers were forced to stay overnight in Bali and were accommodated in nearby hotels while the plane is being checked and repaired. A spokeswoman from Thai Airways said that the plane is expected to arrive at its original destination in Brisbane by approximately 30 minutes to midnight of Oct. 12 or a total of 36 hours of travel from Bangkok, Bali and to Brisbane.
In the same report from Stuff, the International Civil Aviation Organization has raised concerns about Thailand's safety measures and practices in aviation. Reportedly, Thai Airways was banned from doing operations in China, Japan and South Korea.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
