The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has penalized Orient Thai Airlines (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) following an incident involving one of its seven B737-300s at Nanning last month.
HS-BRI (msn 27138) had just completed a flight from Phuket on April 11 when a post-flight inspection showed the aircraft's left-hand nose wheel was missing owing to a sheered-off axle.
A CAAC investigation categorized the incident as 'Serious' while urging Orient Thai to improve its safety management and operational oversight regimes in particular.
According to the China Aviation Daily, CAAC fined Orient Thai CNY29,000 (USD4,453). Additionally, for a period of six months, Orient Thai has been banned from serving Chengdu Shuangliu, Xi'an Xianyang, Nanchang International, Chongqing and Nanjing while the number of its aircraft certified to serve China has also been cut to five.
In all, Orient Thai may continue flying to China albeit only to Shanghai Pudong and Nanning, and Changsha Huanghua.
