By Francis Paul Siah
The Kuching Airport closure today caused me to miss my meetings in Miri with our MoCS group and the press.
I was scheduled to meet our MoCS group in Miri for lunch and thereafter called a press conference at 3.30pm.
The SMS received from Air Asia for the flight cancellation at 9.30am (my flight was 11.10am) was that of an emergency runway closure of Kuching Airport. I thought it was the bad weather. It has been raining heavily for two consecutive days in Kuching.
I even went to the airport at 10am and no one at the Air Asia counter informed me of the accident.
When I called the MAS counter at the Kuching airport at 1 pm to enquire whether the airport has opened, the guy over the phone was kind enough to tell me the real reason for the airport closure “You don’t know about last night’s accident ka? That Tony Fernandez is so powerful…he can black out news about accidents involving Air Asia planes.”
Of course, the guy was from MAS and he further lamented MAS losses of flight cancellations and having to put up stranded passengers in hotels and paying for their meals.
So now I know. You can only get bad news on Air Asia from MAS and I suppose vice-versa. Air Asia staff will stay mum about accidents involving their aircraft. This is most unprofessional.
The accident took place at 10pm last night and none of the local newspapers carried the news. I was surprised or should I be? Working as an editor for years, I will be very sore with my reporters if they do not get such a ‘major’ story back to the office. For such a big story, I would even delay the printing deadline to ensure that the story is out next morning. Apparently, things work differently these days.
So I rang one editor friend and asked him whether he was aware of the airport accident last night. He laughed, saying “we knew about it last night already”.
Then came the familiar tale which we have all heard before, “Aiya…Air Asia is spending millions in advertisements with us every year la”. Of course, I know…I heard this so many times before.
My editor friend then told me that the news will have to be carried in tomorrow’s papers because it has become a national disaster with passengers stranded throughout the country with the closure of the Kuching Airport.
Bernama only carried this story online below at 12.11pm, some 14 hours after the accident. So much for speed in the news world these days!
And to Air Asia and the ‘almighty’ Tony Fernandez, let me tell you this – You have done a great disservice to your passengers today.
You told the whole world “Now, Everyone Can Fly”. Today, you lie and you were not decent enough to tell me why I cannot fly. I have to hear it from a third party. I think you have been most unprofessional and I’m very disappointed with you and Air Asia today.
-Francis Paul Siah, Kuching
The BERNAMA story:
AirAsia Plane Skids Off Runway, Forces Closure Of Kuching Airport
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By: Ramjit
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KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) — An AirAsia aircraft from here skidded off the runway as it landed in Kuching during heavy rain last night, slightly injuring four passengers and forcing the closure of the Kuching International Airport.
Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB) said the airport remained closed as at 11am today, and that 24 incoming and outgoing flights had been affected by then.
MAB said the aircraft skidded and veered off the runway upon landing at 10.02pm.
Flight AK5218 of the budget airline had originated from the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Kuala Lumpur.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha, who spoke to reporters after opening the National Maritime Conference today, said the plane was carrying 124 passengers and six crew and that four passengers were slightly injured and sent for treatment at the Kuching Hospital.
A passenger, Balai Ringin Assemblyman Snowdan Lawan, speaking to reporters in Kuching last night, said the plane veered sharply to the left and right after it touched down and then skidded off the runway onto soft ground.
“I was not sure at which section of the runway it skidded as it was raining and dark. When I alighted from the plane, I noticed that the nose-wheel tyre seemed to have been damaged,” he said.
MAB said work to tow the aircraft away from where it had stalled was being undertaken with the assistance of AirAsia engineers but the heavy rain last night had hampered the effort.
It said only one flight, MH2505 of Malaysia Airlines, was allowed to department from Kuching, at 7.30am today.
Of the 24 affected flights, 11 were operated by AirAsia, eight by Malaysia Airlines and five by MASWings, it said.
MAB advised passengers to contact airline offices to enquire about the status of their flights departing from or arriving at the Kuching airport.
It said it was working closely with AirAsia and related agencies at the airport to expedite the resumption of flights into and out of Kuching. – BERNAMA
MoCS 
thanks for sharing this story..well, at least now people do know that “now, not everyone can fly”
Sucks , i had my UK flight on tomorrow night , let’s hope the airport will be reopen as soon as possible
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It just make my bones chilled even more………….
but tony fernandes tweeted about it last night and tweeted the progress too. i don’t think other company ceo would do that.
To Francis Paul,
You don’t need to be an expert to understand that any corporate company will not say things like that.
Let’s say you have a company and something really bad happened and you can’t fulfill certain thing. Do you tell you customer “we can provide you this because we screwed up big time” or you will say “we can’t fulfill this due to unforeseen circumstances”? Any no brainer will little bit of command sence will choose the latter. That’s exactly AirAsia did. Damage control.
I used to pay RM 880 for return flight to visit my family in Kota Kinabalu and only once a year. Now I visiting them every 2-3 month. It’s all happened because of Tony and AirAsia. Shits do happen and i think MAS have more incidents and accidents compared to AirAsia in the past 10 years. Check wikipedia if you don’t believe me.
I hope you understand my point.
“Shits do happen and i think MAS have more incidents and accidents compared to AirAsia in the past 10 years”
The point that you say you “think” MAS have more incidents is baseless because you don’t even provide links or whatsoever to support your claim. You better think again then to get your facts right….
It’s not true that none of the local newspapers carried the news. Both “Sin Chew Daily” & “See Hua Daily News” got the news in the front pages (Sibu edition) and “Sin Chew Daily) had a colour picture in the front page and with more details at Pg. 19 with more black & white photos and reports.
This incident obviously was an accident, no one predicted it will happen. An accident is something that can’t be predicted and please don’t blame everything on Air Asia. IF YOU WANNA BLAME, WHY DON’T BLAME ON THE WEATHER? A pilot will try to save the plane, a Good Pilot will try to avoid or save the disaster from happening.
blame the weather? why not blame the runway instead?
Be aware of that cheap useless airline.
This is not the first incident they cover up.
Last time was Kuching also, before that was KK.
Only after hours and hours they remove the airplane, maybe have to ask Tony’s consent first of what to do.
Then ask MAS equipment to tow for free. Didn’t wanna pay single cent to MAB or MAS. Very very irresponsible airline, business-player and transporter. Comparable to those cheap bus companies whose buses always involved in accidents.
Don’t know how they maintain their planes. Heard they even extend their maintenance schedule in the name of cost-cutting.
Rayyan says…
“I used to pay RM 880 for return flight to visit my family in Kota Kinabalu and only once a year. Now I visiting them every 2-3 month. It’s all happened because of Tony and AirAsia. Shits do happen and i think MAS have more incidents and accidents compared to AirAsia in the past 10 years. Check wikipedia if you don’t believe me.”
1. Bcoz of CHEAP then ARE WE SUPPOSED to support? No wayyy…
We’re talking about SAFETY & LIVES here. AK put SAFETY after MONEY. example: THIS VERY Kuching case.
Flight has been delayed ex-KUL. Aircraft was from KK. Crew at KUL waited the aircraft for hours. Tired. Fatigue.
Yet Still had to do KUL-KCH-KUL. Shd’ve arr KCH 2205, plus transit time 25mins 2230 departs back to KL. Crew pushed to the limit.
Heavy rain taken as “drizzling”, as reported live by 1 of the passenger. Weather is to blame? So what’s the purpose of a pilot then? Why they’re paid so handsomely? Because they’re paid to THINK. To DECIDE. MAS pilots won’t push to limit because they have better options.
They can’t land in KCH they can always go to Sibu. AK doesn’t have that luxury. MAS pilots can’t land, they’ve plenty of hotels to divert & nightstop. AK don’t have that luxury. MAS pilots can’t land in anywhere bad weather, they’re not questioned. AK don’t land, there go your promotion, increment & bonus.
Then you say MAS have more accident/incident? Which wiki you refer to?
Please check wikipedia for the actual number of incidents MAS has, you check.
This Ryyan dude only thinks about himself, we r airline staff know wht cause of all this.Other airline involve,aswell as connecting flight pax.Dude u only fly 2-3 in a month,we fly every single day.U wanna talk about ur cheap fare or safety is more important? U only flew to KK,we flew to all over the world n we have to face international DCA check.think before u talk! And do u know tht none of AK crew open the door wt slide inflated!?
Thanks for “whacking” me guys. Some of my comments were edited and make it looks like out of context.
I have to agree with John, Rayyan has to check his facts before commenting.
No doubt AirAsia is affordable. but i think MAS is giving better service than AirAsia overall.
Well when you pay peanuts you get peanuts….enough said.
damn lousy!!! teach AirAsia a lesson so that they wont be able to forget. the staff in LCCT also very rude and stuck up..
i’m not trying to backing up Air Asia. Unfortunately you all suck…& stupid..donno how to appreciate life…..don’t you think bout da gud behind this bad incident…everything happened has its own reason…don’t blame others bcoz of your failure to go 4 an important meeting beside you can choose to go earlier 1 day before event and u should be thankful because they cost only rm88….use ur brain bro
I have to admit that there were some flaws with Air Asia but don’t forget Kuching Airport is notorious for planes skidding off its runway. As i recall they used to be a MAS A330-300 skidding off the runway when it turning for take off, also Transmile cargo veered off the runway during landing and few MAS B737s also experiencing this. As far as i am concern, Air Asia has improved a lot since the first time it was in the air i remember getting frequent delays and retiming with their annoying flights but this is happening less now.
For those who want to AVOID all the hustle bustle and errors, save up for full carrier Airlines like Singapore Airlines or MAS. Its what you pay for the better service. All those travelling in Low Cost Carriers should know the risks.
Dear Aviation Observer, laymen don’t know about risks, behind cheap fairs. They just buy cheap tickets (which aren’t most of the time), and unaware of any risk.
Some PRICE has to be paid come with CHEAP fares… free of charge.
So you are saying Air Asia get a taxi driver to fly their plane instead of a professionally trained pilot to fly it ?
“Some PRICE has to be paid come with CHEAP fares… free of charge.”
YES! services NOT PEOPLE’S LIFE!
Don’t mix the services of an airline provides and the duty of care that an airline should have to their passengers together!!
Rayyan says:
January 12, 2011 at 5:37 pm
Thanks for “whacking” me guys. Some of my comments were edited and make it looks like out of context.
And now he blames the editor/moderator for editing his post. I wonder why mine weren’t edited or censored or cut.
Rayyan, just accept that what you were saying was inaccurate. AirAsia is just a less-safe airline to fly with, less-friendly staffs to be dealt with… all in the name of LOW-COST transporter. Which translate to a word… DANGEROUS.
By the way, I just had a long-hot debates with my in-laws, consisting of 4 families (22 familymembers) to cancel/undo their booking to Medan this March. Instead I’m willing to topup RM1,600 in order for them to jump into MAS. (not even RM80 DIFFERENCE per head two-way; who say AK is cheap?)
xixi says: “Unfortunately you all suck…& stupid..donno how to appreciate….. don’t blame others bcoz of your failure to go 4 an important meeting… u should be thankful because they cost only rm88….use ur brain bro”
Bro, I think you should use yours, if you have one.
Read carefully what was written by Francis Siah, what he frustrated most for, which are… ignorant attitude by AK staff, being secretive about what had happened, perhaps Directives from Higher Level on-top-of Upper Level above Higher-of-Higher Level… for not INFORMING public (delete delete delete) not PUBLIC but THEIR OWN CUSTOMERS cum PASSENGERS; off what had happened, thus what next course of action to take.
Stated even in one daily: Kuching Airport Closed Due To Heavy Rain. Kahkahkah. Since when Msian airport is forced not to operate caused by heavy rain? Never. Our country tropical rain storm, even at its heaviest would only occur for half an hour. The most? 1 hour. The worst stage, at its dissipating, would just solidly pour for 10 mins. Even heavy rain has no harm for takeoff & landing. Its associates are, which are strong winds, reduced visibility, up & down draughts, windshears, microbursts. (refer NatGeo Channel: Air Crash Investigation)
Mr Aviation Observer: The A330 by MAS had happened during taxing BEFORE takeoff roll. The 330 was to make 180-turn at Rwy 25 turning pan, before line-up for takeoff, before its Nosewheel Steering wouldn’t turn as its pilot command. Its purely technical occurrence, in nice, blue-sky sunny clear weather, less involve with critical pilot decision-making challenges.
to all public, try to behave, u people liked chicken talk, try to blame the corrupt government, 2011 years airport runway should very advanced… where the fund went?
We dont need very advance runway ie. with Cat 3 Autoland capability which translate to astronomical cost.
But i very agree wt u Sickening, where the $$ went?
Look at KK Intl. It cant be completed till now! Too many ah long. Who will pay the price and tense? Airline pilots, crew & passengers.
Wouldn’t it be Much Much better if they just maintain old traditional artistic old KCH, BKI, MYY and SBW?
Now all airports look the same. Boring. Unnecessarily big.
Hallo again ! I must admit that Malaysia has got a lot of so-called Aviation experts. I could not stop laughing when I read all the suggestions and comments of these people. The world of Aviation both Civil and Military is not the same as the world of ” roti canai or Nasi lemak.” In other words, if you have very little knowledge or almost no knowledge of Aviation then it is more appropriate to comment on the quality of nasi lemak sold in K.Lumpur in my opinion. Have a nice day !
Hey Guys…Be Awake ! Be Aware !
Please grow up dudes!!! There is always a mistake or damage happen every times and everywhere okay? Of course Air Asia could have informed about this but that doesn’t mean we have to condemn or blacklist them right?
Do you know that since Air Asia flights extended their services Internationally, our tourism business increased? Government earned through that…All tourism related businesses benefits through that too. A lot of job offered to Malaysians which benefits our peoples.
Air Asia too did created an awareness and promoting Malaysia tourism through their presence worldwide.
I do agree Malaysia airlines air fare is not so expensive compare to Air Asia nowadays, but guys don’t you really think why it is so? Does Malaysia Airlines air fare cheaper earlier before Air Asia came along?? Think!!! Don’t just use your emotion!!! We can enjoy affordable fare with MAS just because Air Asia’s competes with them.
I do agree with our outdated runway but want can we do??? Our Government is so damn corrupted and they don’t rally cares about the public. Our useless leaders just keep “their own runway well advanced’. Useless talking to this so called leaders of nations but this is what happening in the worldwide politics too.
So guys….there is always a Bad & a good things in everything happen, just tap the good things and appreciate it!
Be Awake ! Be Aware !
Saran – KUL
While I do not have the information to compare which airline has more incidents, MAS is not spared from incidents as well. This is some news I found when searching if MAS had any incidents. http://aerotowfeeq.in/2011/02/malaysian-airlines-flight-makes-emergency-landing/
I was on a 5pm MAS flight from BKK to KL on 10 April 2011. Halfway through the flight there was an emergency and the plane had to descend to 10,000 feet and the flight had to be diverted to Penang. It was a harrowing 60 mins ++ before the flight arrived in Penang. We were not given any information on what happened on the flight, nor given much updates on the ground on when and how we will be getting back to KLIA.
I heard a lot of foreigners complaining about the lack of updates and the bad services. Some of them even said that they were never going to fly MAS and that SIA was so much better.