BANGKOK: -- Investigators are looking into why two passenger planes clipped wings on the tarmac at Bangkok’s international airport, cracking a wing on one of the planes, Thai authorities said today.

No one was injured in the accident, which occurred late yesterday when a Singapore Airlines plane was taxiing to a gate and a Thai Airways plane was travelling to the runway for takeoff, said Surapol Isaragura, director of Thai Airways’ emergency operations.

The accident cracked the wing of the Thai Airways plane, and all its passengers were transferred to another plane. No damage was reported to the Singapore plane.

The air transportation agency ordered the captains of both planes to undergo medical check-ups. If the accident was caused by human error, authorities will revoke the responsible captain’s licence, said Chaisak Angsuwan, the agency’s director general.

--AP / iol.ie 2005-04-20

BANGKOK: -- Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) and Singapore Airlines were at loggerheads today following an incident yesterday afternoon in which two planes clipped wings at Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport.

There were no injuries in the incident, which occurred when Singapore Airlines' flight SQ68, which was taxiing to a gate, clipped wings with THAI's flight 602, as it travelled to the runway for takeoff.

Singapore Airlines today laid the blame for the incident firmly at the feet of the Thai airliner, a claimed refuted by Mr. Suraphol Isarangura Na Ayutthaya, THAI’s director for operations and emergencies, who accused Singapore Airlines of jumping to a conclusion.

“When incidents of this kind occur, investigators need to look at information from three sides – from both parties in the incident and the air traffic control”, he said.

“The investigation should look at what faults occurred in the system so that we can prevent similar incidents in future. This is better than simply looking for a guilty party”, he added.

According to the THAI pilot, the Singapore airliner had been ordered to park at Gate 54 to allow the Thai plane to pass.

It was, therefore, possible that both parties were at fault.

THAI has already established a committee to investigate the incident, and has pledged to pay compensation if found to be in the wrong.

However, the airline also stressed that the incident was a minor one, noting that neither pilot was aware of what had happened at the time, and said that the press had blown it out of proportion.

Although the wing tip had fallen off the plane, this would not have compromised passenger safety in any way should the plane have continued its flight.

The incident will be investigated by the Department of Aviation, whose Director-General, Mr. Chaisak Angkasuwan, said today that he would order both airlines to send in representatives to explain the case.

Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit has ordered that both the Department of Aviation and THAI get to the bottom of the incident within two days, and has said that the incident should be used as a lesson to be more cautious in the future.

--TNA 2005-04-20