After an Airline Mishap, Painting Over Your Logo Isn't Terribly Effective

[Karee 4,191]

A Thai Airways plane, with its logo and name painted over, on Sept. 9 after it skidded off the runway at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok

In the world of crisis management, Thai Airways employed an unusual strategy today: painting over its logo on a jet that suffered a landing-gear mishap during which 13 passengers were injured.

Flight TG679 was landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport late Sunday after a flight from Guangzhou, China, with 288 passengers and 14 crew members when the Airbus A330 veered off the runway due to a landing-gear malfunction, the airline said. The passengers suffered mostly minor injuries in the emergency evacuation—unfortunate, but not terribly unusual.

What came next, however, was rather rare: The airline deployed a crew with black paint to “de-identify” the Thai logo on the fuselage, with an airline official telling reporters that the practice followed a “crisis communication rule” at the global Star Alliance—of which Thai is a member—to protect the image of the airline and other alliance members, the Associated Press reported. Not so, Star officials responded.

STORY: Why That Crashed Asiana Plane Is Still on the Runway

“We at Star Alliance do NOT have a policy which states that carriers must paint over the logos,” spokesman Markus Ruediger wrote in an e-mail. The airline issued a statement today to clarify its position on the matter. “Though THAI generally practices the de-identifying of an aircraft after an incident (or accident), the Company also clarifies that it is NOT a Star Alliance policy or procedure to de-identify aircraft,” the national airline said.

The Star Alliance, anchored by Lufthansa and United Airlines (UAL), is the largest of the three major global airline alliances, followed by SkyTeam and Oneworld. Another Star Alliance member, Asiana Airlines, did not seek to conceal its logo on a Boeing 777 that crashed July 6 at San Francisco International Airport. That wrecked aircraft sat beside Runway 28L for six days amid the investigation.

Source:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-09/after-an-airline-mishap-painting-over-your-logo-isnt-terribly-effective

[RGinWA 816]

It was a redaction...lol

[Ryan H 3,834]

Seems stupid to me, it's not like anyone couldn't find out which airline that plane belonged to if they really wanted to.

[Karee 4,191]

Seems stupid to me, it's not like anyone couldn't find out which airline that plane belonged to if they really wanted to.

Especially since it's the main airline at that airport. Even in the photo, you can see a plane taking off in the background with the same colors that has the logo.

It was a redaction...lol

It looks just like that.

[Rattlehead 69]

It was a redaction...lol

LOL, I didn't know the IRS was in the airline business.

[Karee 4,191]

Airline backtracks on logo cover-up story Landing gear caused THAI skid

• Published: 11 Sep 2013 at 00.59
• Online news: Transport

Authorities have blamed defective landing gear after a Thai Airways International (THAI) Airbus A330-300 plane skidded off the runway at Suvarnabhumi airport on Sunday.

Thai Airways International (THAI) staff use air flotation equipment to lift and prepare to move the damaged Airbus A330-300 aircraft, with THAI logo and name blacked out, that skidded off the runway at Suvarnabhumi airport on Sunday night. (Photos by Somchai Poomlard)

Wiwit Deepradit, director of the Flight Standards Bureau at the Department of Civil Aviation, said Tuesday an initial investigation revealed the accident may have been caused by a faulty bogie beam, also known as a pivot, or truck beam, on the landing gear. The beam joins the two main axles of the actual gear.

Meanwhile, THAI clarified an earlier statement about the aircraft having its logo and serial number blacked out.

A THAI official had said the move was to protect the image of the airline and the Star Alliance network of carriers, which THAI belongs to.

The carrier has since issued a statement that while THAI generally practices "de-identifying" an aircraft after an accident, it is not a Star Alliance policy or procedure to de-identify planes.

The pilots had landed the plane smoothly and it had travelled along the runway for about one kilometre before the problem occurred.

Regarding the cause of the accident, Mr Wiwit said: "Everything was normal including the runway touchdown. The question is why the plane veered off the runway. So the focus is on a defect in the landing gear."

The right main landing gear of the plane, which was serving the Guangzhou-Bangkok route, reportedly collapsed.

Forty passengers were injured, with 14 taken to hospital - 12 of whom were discharged on Monday.

Suvarnabhumi operations said Dozens of arriving planes had to circle for an average of about 10 minutes, while 130 departing planes were delayed by an average of 20 minutes for a second day on Tuesday, waiting for the "anonymous" Thai Airways International plane to be moved off the runway.

"An examination shows that the plane is severely damaged, especially on its right side and engine which scraped against the runway and caused sparks due to the friction," Mr Wiwit said.

He said if the investigation concludes a defective part of the plane is to bame, the department will send the part to France for further study as Airbus is based in Toulouse.

Woradet Hanprasert, director-general of the department, said Tuesday that authorities had to find out why the landing gear malfunctioned. Another question to be answered is why a fire broke out in one engine of the plane, he said.

Suvarnabhumi air traffic control reported the fire broke out before landing, but THAI said there were sparks only during the runway incident. Two engines and a pair of tyres on the Airbus plane were damaged.

THAI chairman Ampon Kittiampon Tuesday said the incident was unavoidable, but the pilots and the attendants of the flight TG679 made the right decisions to protect the lives and property of their passengers. The crew exceeded their duties and should be appreciated by passengers, he said. Mr Ampon denied accusations on social media that some crew members ran for their lives. THAI standards are very high and if the crew had not made the right decisions there could have been a tragedy, he said.

Apinan Wannangkun, vice-president of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Co, reported that from 7am to 3pm Tuesday 42 visiting planes had to circle for about 10 minutes, and 130 departing planes were delayed by 20 minutes on average at Suvarnabhumi airport due to the partial closure of the eastern runway where the accident happened. Airport staff had already repaired the runway.

THAI president Sorajak Kasemsuvan said the removal of the plane from the runway was completed early Wednesday.

Source:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/transport/369069/thai-admits-logo-cover-up-fingers-defective-landing-gear

[Darnell 8,479]

OK - that's it - no more Airbus products in/out of Thailand,

and

no more Thai pilots working for that airline.

That'll fix em, you betcha !

Slacktards.