OMG... My brother just called me up (21st Dec 2007, 1:40 pm) from Subang airport. His plane which was flying from Subang to Penang just crash-landed at Subang airport! His 12:40 pm flight to Penang was on a Fokker turboprop which lost the LEFT engine 20 minutes into the flight. The pilot tried restarting the engine for 10 minutes but failed. He then turned the plane back and told the passengers they were returning to Subang. Right after that, the RIGHT engine cut out too! This time, he did not tell the passengers that they were out of engines.... Fortunately, they managed to glide all the way back to Subang airport. But the plane landed so hard, the tyres burst on hitting the runway. The plane is now TOTALLED. There is currently a BIG commotion at Subang airport where the passengers are all hysterical about what happened. Firefly claims the plane is brand-new and they REFUSE to provide any compensation, or transfer them to another airline. They are only going to replace the plane with another Fokker turboprop. Update #1 : They didn't tell the passengers that the second engine died. In fact, the pilot only informed the passengers about the problem with the first engine AFTER he turned the plane around. Update #2 : They are only going to replace the flight with a new plane at 4:30 pm. They just chased them out of the terminal and did not even provide them with food and drinks. Update #3 : FireFly claimed it was an electrical problem. Update #4 : Quite a few passengers did not even know they had been gliding back to Subang with no running engines. They saw the propellers windmilling and probably thought they were still running. --------------------------------- Wrote this letter to FireFly (http://forums.techarp.com/adrian-wo...ight-crash-lands.html#post319752?postcount=16, 21st Dec 2007, 04:22 PM) : --------------------------------- Got this drone reply from FireFly (http://forums.techarp.com/adrian-wo...ht-crash-lands-2.html#post319798?postcount=36, 22nd Dec 2007, 04:42 PM) : And this was my reply to that officious letter : --------------------------------- Just wrote this letter to The Star and The Sun : --------------------------------- December 24, 2007 (1:45 pm) Here's an update.... According to a source I spoke to, that plane was NOT a new plane as Firefly claimed. Not that old planes are not reliable, but they do require stringent maintenance to ensure maximum reliability. Also, as old planes, Firefly cannot claim that the electrical problem was a "teething issue" or something they can blame Fokker for. Right now, Firefly only has THREE Fokker planes with the registration numbers 9M-MGF, 9M-MGI and 9M-MDG. Their new planes are not due to arrive until July 2008. So I wonder why Firefly told the passengers that they did not understand why the incident happened because "the plane was new". LIARS.
got the msg from Adrian. damn this is like Con-Air or something. WTH......... my be freaked out man. waiting for more headlines. well, good thing your brother is safe......... btw which brother is this?
It was Alan. He's damn freaked out now cause he was sitting NEXT to the right engine. He actually saw the engine die. They didn't tell the passengers that the second engine died. A flight engineer who was on the flight said most of the passengers did not know how lucky they were.
brbrbr brbbrbr brbr brbbrbrb .......... brrbp..........brprp......... brppo................. *eerie silence*
Wow.. This is too much. They are only going to replace the flight with a new plane at 4:30 pm. They just chased them out of the terminal and did not even provide them with food and drinks.
I think that's the very minimum they can do. But they just told them you can go eat something and come back at 4:30 for the next flight. Many of the passengers are understandably freaked out and want to be transferred to a different airline, but they refused.
My brother's pilot friend says that while it's quite common for an aircraft to lose an engine mid-flight, it's very rare for an aircraft to lose BOTH engines. FireFly apparently said it was an electrical problem. But whether that's the truth or just something to cover up a bigger problem, I guess we will never know.
Quite a few passengers did not even know they had been gliding back to Subang with no running engines. They saw the propellers windmilling and probably thought they were still running.
Wow... this is totally unacceptable! But glad that your bro is alright. I'd be scared shitless man. And think of Lost and Final Destination.
So did your bro continued on the 2nd plane to Penang? Wow. if it was me I'd just cancel the whole trip man.