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.
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PHUKET, Sept 16 (TNA) – An unknown number of passengers were killed and dozens wounded in a commercial airliner crash in Thailand's Andaman Sea resort city of Phuket about 4:00 pm Sunday afternoon.
Acting Airports of Thailand (AoT) director Kalya Pakakrong, supervising the operations at Phuket International Airport, said the passenger jet operated by Thai budget carrier One-Two-Go skidded off a runway at Phuket International Airport during a landing attempt amid heavy rain and strong crosswinds.
The aircraft – identified as an MD 82 model – broke into two section before bursting into flame in the wings and the rear section of the broken aircraft.
Rescue workers carried at least 20 injured persons to both private and public hospitals in Phuket, according to Chaisak Angsuwan, director-general of Thailand's Civil Aviation Department, but at press time no death toll had been announced.
The plane's passenger list included 123 persons plus five crew, many of whom are feared dead.
The cause of the fatal incident is now being investigated, according to Transport Minister Admiral Thira Haocharoen.
All flights from Phuket International Airport have been cancelled, causing confusion and anger among travelers concerned to make connections to other destinations and to know when operations will resume.
Initiially media are not allowed access to the crash site. Only authorised persons including rescue workers and emergency medical personnel from several organisations were permitted. (TNA)