.. and he recently entered politics as the founder of a new political party.

I suppose we can conclude that aviation safety isn't a primary platform for the new party.

Could someone explain to me why Orient Thai's 747'300 is still operating out of Dhaka ?? I was under the impression that if they got their licence pulled this would mean no flying !! They are under a wet lease to Biman so still operating under a Thai licence ,so correct me if I'm wrong!!:confused:

In the past week:

1. One-Two-Go and Orient Thai had their AOC revoked for either 30, 56 or 60 days for excessive flight hours and fraudulent check rides (the proof of which have been publicly posted for months on our site petitioning for a proper investigation into the crash, including the actions of the CEO Udom Tantiprasongchai).
2. DCA Deputy Director Vittuchai - a close friend of Udom's - was either removed from his post or is no longer the press contact for the DCA after the FAA, the press and our petition site complained about his claim that the crash of One-Two-Go/Orient Thai OG269 was "unavoidable" and due to "windsheer". (You can also see the black box transcription on the petition site. It shows that windsheer was hardly a factor. The crash occurred because the captain Arief was incapacitated and the F/O Montri was incompetent.)
3. One-Two-Go/Orient Thai's managing director Kajit Habanananda is a close friend of the new DCA Deputy Director Chaisak. After a brief meeting between the two friends, Orient Thai was allowed to continue flight. (If you can read Thai, you can see the statement of AOC revocation on the petition site.)

Details and proof are publicly available at www.InvestigateUdom.com

It's one of those offical letters from any Thai Government Agencies. While it does state that it affects the AOC affects Orient Thai and One-Two-Go, it also says that it concerns MD 80 operations.
Do they have AOC for different types of aircrafts?

This leaves Udom with a legal loophole to continue to operate other aircrafts. Can they do anything? Not really. Coz if they go against him, he could file a suit in one of the courts (administrative court?) that the order issued by the DCA is confusing/not clear/wrong.

Problem solved for both: DCA saves its face with the order. Udom can fly his 747s and save some money for not having to fly the MD80s. And the way I judge him he will not have to pay any salaries to his staff as most of them are on a one or three month contract allowing him to avoid any employment laws.

About the only time 'ole Udom didn't get his way was in September 1999 when our company repossessed one of his TriStars for non-payment of lease.
We took it right out from under his nose and there was nothing he could do about it...as it was newly US registered.

Please Clarify....
 

Is it a known fact that Orient Thai has its A.O.C. supended?
Also, Is it a known fact that Orient Thai has lost the UN charters?

If both of these are true why was -UTK (Orient Thai B747-300) seen departing Dhaka, Bangladesh TODAY?
(A few years back the only reason for Orient Thai to be in Dhaka was to pick up UN troops)

Wes Afra

OX is stilled allowed to operate the 747 fleet since the audit did not find problem with that fleet.

The rot is in whole barrel!!! It is not in just one apple!!!
Trust me-I know first hand-I flew the 747 at OT for one year.
Udom also employees 'cheap' Indonesian and Philipio pilots on the 747 fleet.
I always assumed that if an A.O.C. is suppended it covers everything the airline flies. Stupid me! :ugh:

Wes Afra

Two OT 747's in HKG early morning of the 29th (around 3am), which means they are on a night turn, i would say one from BKK, the other from HKT?

The OT 747 has been a regular in DXB over the past few weeks!

UK Foreign & Commonweath Office - Travel Advice
 

Just going through my in-box and found the following email. I am subscribed to the FCO travel advice for a number of countries, including Thailand. This email was send by the FCO on 25th July.

The link to the full article is Thailand

It is good to see that the travel advice is made available through the regular channels in the UK at least. This site contains the official government advice for travellers and is referenced by travel agencies / tour operators as well as business.

AOC
 

Orient Thai's AOC specifies MD-80s and B747s. To the best of my knowledge, since the AOC specifies both types, there is no legal way of suspending the AOC for just one type. Despite that, Orient Thai is flying.

Could well be the reason...:}

Seen in todays Bangladesh Daily Star
 

A Boeing 747-300 aircraft of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd suffered technical glitches on Friday at the Dubai International Airport a day after it faced similar trouble in Jeddah.

On Thursday, Biman's Dhaka-bound flight from Jeddah was delayed for about 20 hours due to hydraulic fail­ure of the same aircraft.

Biman leased the aircraft from a Thai airline on June 2 for a year to minimise flight dis­ruption.

The aircraft remained grounded for a day due to tech­nical problems about 15 days ago, Biman sources said.

"The Dhaka-bound flight left the Dubai Airport at about 8:00am Friday (Bangladesh Standard Time). But it had to return to the airport following a fire warning from its internal system, which was later proved false," a Biman high-up told The Daily Star last night.

After a while the aircraft tried to take off, but failed due to technical glitches, the offi­cial said adding that the stranded passengers were flown to Dhaka by another flight.

The aircraft was scheduled to leave for Dhaka at 9:00pm yesterday about 30 hours behind schedule, Biman sources said.

"The Boeing 747-300 plane that Biman leased from Orient Thai is having technical prob­lems repeatedly," the official said, adding that they will face problems in operating hajj flights if the aircraft is dogged by technical glitches.

Airport sources said Biman had to reschedule its Kuala Lumpur-bound flight twice as the Boeing 747-300 could not reach Dhaka in time.

The flight, originally sched­uled at 10:00pm Friday, had been rescheduled at 8:00pm yesterday. Later, the schedule was changed again, airport sources added.

This is UTK. Very sad, UTK was a very nice and reliable aircraft when OT received it from KLM. I guess besides low budget pilots Udom also employs low budget mechanics. Hence the phrase, "if you want to die-fly Orient Thai!"

Please tell me how a Certificate suspension only effects one fleet and not the other?

Wes Afra

Orient Thai
 

West Afria Ops is correct. Orient Thai's maintenace is !!!! just like One To Go. Same mechanics working on OX and One To Go and are just told by Udom to fix nothing. Udom also recruits cheap pilots who cannot get a job anywhere else. They do not think laterally and just do as they are told. This is the truth. Attack Udom and shut OX and One To Go down and do not allow Udom to start any other airline.

Translated DCA document
 

A translation of the DCA document regarding One-Two-Go and Orient Thai's AOC revocation is available on the InvestigteUdom.com petition site. Here are a few highlights:It's worth reading the whole document. Just go to the petition site and scroll to bottom or look for Aug 5. (And please sign while you're there.)

i've noticed nok air leased 73's are being returned to lessors. so far 2 have arrived in SBZ this week.

whats the story, down sizing or worse?

Don't put Nok in the same catagory as Udom's rubbish. Nok are suffering economically hence the downsizing.

Nothing dubious at all.

they're downsizing ... from 9 airplanes to 3. 66% reduction of capacity has nothing to do with the economy, but it is pure mismanagement. Just a bunch of useless people than at OX. They might have a better image, but they are neither less corrupt than OX nor do they pay their suppliers any better.
But agree, actual ops is much more professional and airplanes get better maintenance - but that's de to the influence and support of TG.

Orient Thai grounded
 

This was taken yesterday (Wednesday) lunchtime at Suvarnabhumi as we taxied out.

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s...e22/EVA003.jpg

Doesn't look like Udom's getting any flying done at the moment.

Saw a B747-300 (UTM??) in HKG on 13th Aug morning........:confused:

Wonder why the aircraft is still flying............:eek:

“It was clearly pilot error,” said Rind, a software engineer with a background in aviation. “There was no evidence of anything wrong with the plane.” She believes the captain was incompetent and was probably suffering from fatigue.
Arief had a history of freezing at the controls during crises and had been working excessive hours, according to a documentary by Australia’s Channel Nine television.
Crew rosters showed that at the time of the crash Arief had worked longer than the 110 hours a month allowed by Thai regulators. These rosters were handed to the authorities by the makers of the documentary.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The crash was Sept. 16. Had CA Arief flown 110 hrs in September or are they talking about the preceeding 30 days?

You can see the rosters for yourself. See the petition proof link. Look for May 1, 2008. You'll have to figure the number of hours for each leg.

Both pilots were in excess on hours. Montri was the flying pilot.
The excess hours indicates just one of the many highly foreseeable systemic failures. See the black box information, posted on June 12, 2008, to see how it all played out in the final moments

The "proof link" just shows the duty times, not the flight times.

I'm surprised you don't have the actual flight time provided ("you'll have to figure the number of hours for each leg") since someone is touting "more than 110 hrs of flight time" but then has a link to their duty periods, which is different than actual flight time.

The flight rosters documents are proof because they are the actual rosters used by Orient Thai/One-Two-Go.

When I analyze the routes, it appears that both pilots flew in excess of 100 hours. That's flight time, not duty time. Obviously duty time would take the numbers considerably higher. (Btw, both pilots were scheduled for more flights that day.)

Of course, no one need trust my calculations. Everyone can see DCA deputy director-general Vitichai admit the pilots were in excess of legal hours on the Australian TV program.

Or a person could read the DCA's document stating the reasons for suspending Orient Thai/One-Two-Go's MD-80 fleet. In addition to a number of dangerous and illegal actions by the airline, such as fraudulent check rides, no QA for self-inspection, a lack of fundamental training for emergencies, the document listed excessive flight hours after management had been previously warned of their excessive hours.

Please sign our petition asking for a independent and transparent investigation into the root causes of the crash of OG269. The video and an English translation of the DCA document are available on the petition site "Proof and Evidence" link

One-Two-Go Fire Sale?
 

Apparently One-Two-Go has removed several engines from the MD-80 fleet and is trucking them off the airport at Don Mueang Airport.
Also, at least one airframe (+ engines) has been re-registered under a US "N".

Vitual Reality, Flights to HKG are operated by OrientThai not OneTwoGo...

As for the aicraft, if you saw HS-UTM, it's a 747-100SR/SUD not a 747-300

This also happened with Thaisky a couple of years back.
After the Tristar operation went down and the crews not paid they leased an aircraft, MD-80 if I remember correctly.
When they failed to pay the lease payments the ground engineers removed the engine to prevent the leasing company from repo the aircraft, due to non payment on the lease.
Perhaps the same thing going on here?

In late 2005 or early 2006 (cannot remember exactly), Udom had a 757 repossessed by a US company. Their inspectors arrived and spent several weeks going through maintenance documents and logbooks in an effort to locate the original serial numbered parts that arrived with the aircraft when the lease was accepted. I remember taxiing past the 757 fleet (3 at the time) with two of them in pieces as they were now finding the missing parts and refitting them to the original aircraft. :ugh:

Around that time, Cho had copied a letter on the copy machine and mistakenly left one behind. I was by chance using the machine after this and noted the letter which stated that the aircraft was to be returned to the lessor for non-payment of lease fees. I cannot remember the exact figure, but Udom was in the red by many many months and to the tune of several million dollars (of the US kind).

:hmm:

Thaisky MD-80
 

Earl

The MD-80 you refer to being used by Thaisky was registration UR-CDR and the engines were re-installed at Don Muang just after that airport closed and the jet then departed.It is unlikely it ever flew any commercial flights with Thaisky.

Video of Orient Thai UN Charter Flight
 

We've obtained a video of an Orient Thai UN charter flight. The flight attendants are on the aircraft for over 24 hours.
A description of the video's contents and access to the video is available on the Investigate Udom Proof and Evidence link. Look for Aug 18, 2008.
(If you don't speak Thai, you might want to stick with the description of the video.)

One-Two-Go Fire Sale? (part II)
 

A kind traveler took a few photos of One-Two-Go aircraft sans engines:
See the InvestigateUdom image site click on the "Relevant Photos" gallery.

Bangkok Post Article
 

Error? No mention of pilot's failure to fly.


Bangkok Post | General news | One-Two-Go, Orient Thai still grounded

<<<AVIATION

One-Two-Go, Orient Thai still grounded

AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK


Orient Thai Airlines and its budget carrier One-Two-Go have been grounded for another two months for failing to bring pilot training up to standard. Aviation Department director-general Chaisak Angsuwan said yesterday the two airlines had failed to correct shortcomings since they were first suspended for 30 days on July 22.

The suspension period had therefore been extended for another 30 days, from Aug 21 to Sept 20.

If the two airlines continued to fall short of the required standard their operating licences would be cancelled, Mr Chaisak said.

Neiother (sic) airline had sent their MD-80 pilots for refresher training as required. They had failed to produce operation management and flight safety manuals, and to introduce a quality assurance system.

Mr Chaisak said the investigation into the crash of One-Two-Go flight OG269 at Phuket airport on Sept 16 last year was caused by a combination of human error and bad weather. The plane crashed in heavy rain and high winds while trying to land, claiming the lives of 89 passengers and crew and injuring 41 others.

Company chairman Udom Tantiprasongchai admitted yesterday the airlines had not sent all their MD-80 pilots for re-training.

He said there were more than 60 pilots, so they had to wait for their turn. This would take at least another 30 days.

All 10 of the airlines' Boeing 747 pilots had completed their retraining.


Orient Thai now operates only one daily flight from Suvarnabhumi airport to Hong Kong.>>>>>>

Memorial
 

To remember those who lost their lives in the Thai Orient/1-2 Go crash that was
wholly preventable.

At Phuket Airport, September 16, 2008 as near as possible to the site of the crash and at the same time
of day 3:30 PM ( Afternoon)

Also, there will be demonstrations in front of Thai Embassy in France and perhaps

Washington, DC to protest the Thai DCA's
( Dept. of Civil Aviation) apparent lack of regulatory authority regarding this
airline company . ( Corruption)

The U.S.A. FAA is considering , and being aggressively lobbied to downgrade
Thailand's Aviation safety standard.
More details to follow

Orient Thai 747 pilots not properly qualified?
 

We are told a number of the Orient Thai 747-200 pilots are not properly qualified for their aircraft. Redacting the names of the pilots seems appropriate at this time. The reasons for lack of qualification are:

1. No ground school (2 pilots)
2. Qualified for the Airbus 330, not the 747-200 (1 pilot)
3. Qualified for the 747-400, not the 747-200 (1 pilot)

Can someone confirm this information?
www.InvestigateUdom.com promoting a transparent and proper investigation into the crash of OG269.

I was told a number of years ago some L1011 F/O's did not have any formal training. It was obtained "on the job.".

Ex-" unqualified " Orient Thai pilots in HKA
 

Heard from some sources that quite a few former " unqualified " Orient Thai pilots migrated to fragrant harbour to seek their fortunes as big wigs in HKA............then caused quite a ruckus there! Any truth to this?

Well...

2 X no school + 1 X Airbus qualified + 1 X -400 qualified...

I'm guessing in that bunch that there's nobody that actually knows either how real airplanes work nor the slightest clue how to fly one!

Ooops, no computers...no can do!

Thank God for professional Flight Engineers!

Cheers...I think...FD...:ooh:

An x CX chap joined very early in their operation and was told he would get sectors of line training then a check.

His first sector BKK HKG was the training AND check. Second sector was solo.:eek:

He had flown the classic before but not in quite a few years.:bored: