A Saudi Arabian cargo plane, one of 10
flights diverted to U-Tapao, sits on the tarmac waiting clearance to
return to Suvarnabhumi.
Patcharapol Panrak
A historic breakdown of air-traffic control systems
at Bangkok’s main airport put U-Tapao-Pattaya International Airport into
the role of emergency backup again, with some flights destined for
Suvarnabhumi International diverted to Sattahip.
The Bangkok hub lost both main and backup power
supplies to its control tower, which failed for an hour, the longest
outage at a world-class airport in 45 years. A total of 49 flights were
affected; 21 take-offs and 15-landings were delayed and 13 flights were
rerouted or sent back to their originating airport.
The incident further inconvenienced international
airlines that have been struggling since June 11 with the 60-day
maintenance shutdown of one of Suvarnabhumi’s two runways. That has
delayed about 100 flights a day.
Rear Adm. Pangpol Sirisangkhai, commander of Royal
Naval Air Division, said none of the 10 U-Tapao-diverted flights
deplaned passengers at the military-operated airfield. Planes simply
refueled and waited for Suvarnabhumi’s radar to come back online, then
flew back.
Bangkok airport officials told the media planes had
to be diverted to U-Tapao and other cities, and not Don Muang
International Airport, because Bangkok’s other airport uses the same
radar system.
