Welcome to Herald Sun. Skip to: Search
Box Section
Navigation Network
Navigation Content
View
the Sitemap

NEWS.com.au |

FOX SPORTS |

CLASSIFIEDS |

MOBILE

Search
For:

enhanced by Google

Network Highlights:

News

Sport

Sport Homepage

AFL

Cricket

Soccer

Racing

Tennis

Golf

Motor
Racing

Basketball

Rugby
League

Rugby
Union

Swimming

Athletics

Netball

Entertainment

Entertainment
Homepage

Confidential

Movies

Music

TV

Audio/Video

Health/Science

Business

Business
Homepage

Breaking
News

Business
Owner

Terry
McCrann's Column

Tech

Opinion

Opinion Homepage

Editorials

Columnists /
Bloggers

Readers'
Comments

Send a Letter to
the Editor

Post your Feedback

Coffee Break

Coffee Break
Homepage

Horoscopes

The Other
Side

Competitions

Corinella

Shop

Shop
Homepage

Photo Sales

Corporate Photo
Sales, Copyright

Herald Sun Cartoons
& Caricatures

Full-page
Reproductions

Memorabilia &
Limited Editions

Books & DVDs

Magazines &
Partworks

Back Issues & Home
Delivery

Education
Products

Article Searches

Grand
Prix

CLASSIFIEDS

Herald Sun - Sell
your car for FREE

Local Business

Jobs

Cars

Property

Home
Improvement

Dating

General
Trader ads

Personal
ads

Travel
ads

Announcement
ads

Tenders

Place a classified
newspaper ad

NEWS NETWORK

NEWS.com.au

The Australian

The Daily Telegraph

The Courier-Mail

Herald Sun

AdelaideNow

PerthNow

The Mercury

NT News

Community Papers

Homepage

Breaking News

Victoria

National

World

Learn

Special
Reports

Sunday Herald
Sun

Photo
Galleries

Weather

Archives

Crash plane was old

Article from:

Font size:
Decrease Increase

Email article: Email

Print article: Print

Submit comment: Submit
comment

Geoff Easdown

September 17, 2007 06:06pm

THE Thai airliner involved in
the Phuket air disaster was very old in terms of aircraft years.

Built by then US airframe maker McDonnell-Douglass in 1983, the MD82 had
flown 64,679 hours and completed 34,202 landings.

Branded with the serial number 49183, the 130-seat twin-jet was the 1129th
McDonnell-Douglass built, according to its official service record kept by
Boeing.

It was flying well beyond an age when other carriers would have declared the
machine obsolete.

Qantas offloads aged aircraft after 13 years of flying.

Emirates Airlines sells its image on not having a plane more than five years
old.

The One-Two-Go Airlines MD82 is believed to have done most of its flying in
the United States where MD80 and 90 series jets operated on regional feeder
services.

Three MD82's, registered numbers VH-LNJ, VH-LNK, VH-LNL and two MD83s,
VH-LNH, VH-LNI, operated briefly in Australia by illfated start-up carrier
Compass MarkII.

The airline collapsed within a year before it took delivery of two late
models, the MD83.

One-Two-Go Airlines, which launched in 2002, had bought the aicraft
secondhand and it is still uncertain how many owners the plane had.

Boeing, which bought the troubled McDonnell Douglass Corporation in 1997,
stopped construction of the company's range of passenger jets after the
merger.

Official records show that Sunday's Thai disaster was the 13th crash
involving an MD80 series aircraft since 1981 in which lives were lost.

Seven of crashes were attributed to poor visibility due to storms or fog on
landing.

A similar incident to the Thai disaster occurred at Solo, Indonesia, on
November 30 2004 where a LionAir MD82 skidded off the runway in heavy rain and
broke up.

Twenty-six lives were lost in that incident among the seven crew members and
146 passengers.

Share this article What
is this?

Digg
this

Post
to del.icio.us

Post
to Newsvine

Also in News

Murder
charge: Row led to car killing: court

Aussie
hurt: First Aussie victim named

Man
sought: Dad dumped Pumpkin at station

Sisters
killed: Cop 'justified' in killing Watkins

Seven
years: Victim blasts priest sentence

Toilet
attack: Man pleads guilty to girl's murder

Survey:
Public teachers want out

Cats
v Pies: War for stars in stripes

Wait
in pain: Ambos, patients queue up

Disaster:
Crash plane was old

WA
coroner: Inquest into Watkins shooting

Samurai
swords: Bandits terrorise attendant

Addiction:
Man dies from online binge

Dam
car 'was steered': expert

Pay-TV
row: Seven faces $23.5m legal payout

Font size:
Decrease Increase

Email article: Email

Print article: Print

Have Your Say

We welcome your comments on this story. Comments are submitted for possible
publication on the condition that they may be edited. Please provide your full
name. We also require a working email address - not for publication, but for
verification. The location field is optional. Read our publication
guidelines.

Submit your feedback here:

Full name:

Email address:

Location (optional):

Your comments: (max 1200
characters)

Remember my details

(So you don't have to retype your details each time you send
feedback.)
Email me if my comment is published

Search for more stories on this topic on Newstext, our news archive service. Click
here

Advertisement

Love & Relationships - Find a date near you on
Match.com - # 1 Online Dating site Worldwide.

$50 Bonus Prepaid Credit Buy Prepaid Online at Virgin
Mobile and get $50 bonus Prepaid Credit

Your lifestyle. Your Dell. A Dell Inspiron lets you be
entertained with a touch of your own style

Visit Business Sense For the latest business news,
managerial insights & more.

Tools

Receive our
News Feeds
What is
RSS?

Get your Newspaper
Delivered

Receive our Email Newsletter

Send
us your news photos

Send
us your story tips

Place a
classified newspaper ad

Retail
newspaper availability

Mobiles/PDAs

Email Newsletter

RSS
Feeds

Video

Audio

Help|

About
Us|

Contact
Us|

Get your Newspaper
Delivered|

Advertise with
Us|

Link to
Us|

Cadetship|

Job
Opportunities|

Terms &
Conditions|

Privacy
Policy|

Accessibility|

Sitemap

© Herald and Weekly Times. All times AEST (GMT + 10).