Ping
the Thai resort island of Phuket
Pronounce that name real fast!
I thought that ninety percent of 123 would be more than thirty. But the headline does say more than thirty. Maybe they use the metric system.
Looks like a stretched DC-10. How old would that plane be?
Forty-five bodies found at Phuket airport
Higher death toll very likely after budget airplane carrying 128 crashlanded
Forty-five dead bodies, most of them foreigners, have been retrieved from wreckage of a One-Two-Go plane at the Phuket airport. The budget airliner exploded and broke in two after it crashlanded and skidded off the runway and crashed into nearby walls on Sunday afternoon. Dozens more are feared dead.
Some reports put the death toll at about 60, but this has yet to be confirmed. The nationalities of those onboard are not immediately known, but Phuket is a highly popular destination for overseas tourists.
A surviving passenger said the plane "landed hard" and "bounced" and then skidded off the runway. Civil aviation official Chiasak Angkauwan said, "the airplane requested to land but due to the weather in Phuket -- strong wind and heavy rain -- maybe the pilot did not see the runway clearly."
"The plane then fell onto the runway and broke into two. It is expected that there will be a lot of casualties."
"We are rescuing people from the aircraft ... we know now there were 123 passengers and five crew," he told the news channel.
"We won't know what really happened until we get information from the black box."
The airliner services Bangkok-Phuket flights six times a week. The ill-fated airline left Don Muang airport at about 2.30pm.
Information now coming in said the plane, which was being used by local budget travel company, One-to-Go Airline, had 123 passengers and five crew.
The aircraft, flight number OG 269, landed at Phuket airport at about 3.40pm from Bangkok and was taxiing along the runway when it went into a slide. Phuket had earlier been hit by heavy rains.
It crashed into trees and walls surrounding the airport.
Eye-witnesses said the impact of the crash caused the plane to break in two and they heard a series of explosions.
Rescue teams and navy personnel were involved in the rescue operation. All flights in and out of the Phuket airport have been cancelled.
The real issue here is how the news is going to handle this and if there is going to be an investigation. Thailand’s rescue services are about as primitive as any country in the world. Thailand is lucky that this accident happened within sight of the airport and not in the countryside. It is the only way there will be any chance of survivors. Hopefully this accident will cause some officials to wake up but I doubt it.
Fox News reported over 60 dead now, quite a few listed as missing right now.
Dreadful. Prayers for the victims.
Anybody know what kind of plane it was?
The latest... according to Thai television news... 40+ passengers were Thai. The rest were foreigners. The aircraft was leased by Orient Thai from another country. Orient Thai did not take out insurance in Thailand on the aircraft so this might get very interesting. Orient Thai is saying they will cover all medical expenses.
Anyone want to take a shot at the pilot’s last words?
Interesting. Thanks for posting. Condolences to family and friend of those who were killed.
Picture of plane from airliners.net