A serious accident occurred at Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok, about 8.30 a.m. on Thursday, June 29. A 57-year-old female passenger who was supposed to board a flight to Nakhon Srithammarat province lost her lower left leg above the knee after a suitcase hit her, causing her to fall and be pulled into a moving walkway.
The incident took place on the South Corridor between Pier 4 and Pier 5, Domestic Terminal 2. She was rushed to the Bhumibol hospital.
Karan Tanakuljirapat, director of the Don Mueang Airport said at a press conference that the moving walkway was made in Japan by a reputable firm and used by many other airports abroad and Airport staff check the moving walkway every three hours. After the incident, engineers have been deployed to investigate.
Karan said the moving walkway that crushed a passenger’s leg has been in service since 1996 and is due to be replaced in 2025. But when this happened, it may have to be moved to an urgent budget in 2024.
He has now ordered the temporary suspension of all 20 moving walkways to ensure their safety. And more investigation is needed to determine the cause of the incident, such as whether the wheel of the injured person’s baggage hit until the moving walkway spokes broke strongly or not, or whether the system was interrupted before the incident.
Karan also stated that the moving walkway was under the care and maintenance of Siam Hitachi Elevator Co., Ltd., a company in the Siam Motors Group and a representative of Hitachi of Japan. To determine if it can sue the corporation for damages, it must examine the terms of the trading deal.
For the female passenger, the medical team at the Bhumibol hospital informed Karan that they could not reattach her leg, but the woman requested to be transferred to Bumrungrad Hospital, which is a private hospital, to assess the possibility.
Initially, the airport will be fully responsible for the woman’s medical costs and will be open for negotiations on other compensations.
“On behalf of Don Mueang International Airport, please accept my heartfelt condolences regarding the accident.” “I would like to emphasise that we will make certain that such an accident does not occur again,” Karan stated.
Back in 2019, a passenger narrowly escaped having his foot crushed after a partially broken skirt of a moving walkway sucked his slipper but he managed to let loose his foot just in time.
