Thai Airways blur plane logo after emergency landing

Staff sought to protect the reputation of Thai Airways this morning by blurring out its logo on the side of an aircraft following an emergency landing.

A Thai Airways Airbus 330-300 skidded off the runway while landing at Bangkok's main airport after its landing gear malfunctioned, the airline said. The flight from Guangzhou, China, was carrying 288 passengers and 14 crew members.

Thirteen people were injured while evacuating the plane. Following the incident, workers, using a crane, blacked out the Thai Airways logo on the tail and body of the aircraft.

Thai Airways official Smud Poom-On said that "blurring the logo" after an accident was a recommendation from Star Alliance known as the "crisis communication rule," meant to protect the image of both the airline and other members of Star Alliance.

The incident occurred less than two weeks after 20 passengers were injured when a Thai Airways Airbus A380 hit severe turbulence as it was descending to Hong Kong's airport.