Thai Airways jet skids off runway while landing at Bangkok airport, injuring 14 passengers

BANGKOK – A Thai Airways Airbus A330-300 plane has skidded off the runway while landing at Bangkok’s main airport, injuring 14 passengers, the airline said Monday.

Thai Airways said that flight TG679 from Guangzhou, China, had a “glitch” in its wheel base while landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport late Sunday. Photos of the incident showed the plane resting in grass beside the runway with its nose down and emergency slides inflated.

“After touchdown at Suvarnabhumi Airport, the landing gear malfunctioned and caused the aircraft to skid off the runway. Sparks were noticed from the vicinity of the right landing gear near the engine; the matter is under investigation,” Thai Airways President Sorajak Kasemsuvan said in a statement Monday.

“The captain took control of the aircraft until it came to a complete stop and passengers were evacuated from the aircraft emergency exits,” he said.

The aircraft was carrying 288 passengers and 14 crew members. The airline said on its Twitter account that 14 injured passengers were sent to hospitals.

Officials said the runway at Suvarnabhumi Airport will be temporarily closed.

The incident occurred less than two weeks after 20 passengers were injured when a Thai Airways flight hit severe turbulence as it was descending to Hong Kong’s airport.