VD, have you seen this yet?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLq_FohlMZa4&refer=home
Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- An airliner carrying 130 people crashed on landing in heavy rain on the Thai resort island of Phuket, killing most on board, Deputy Governor Vorapoj Rattasrima said. Passengers included tourists from Britain, Australia, France and the Netherlands.
The budget-carrier One Two Go Airline Co. flight was a McDonnell Douglas Corp. MD-82 carrying 123 passengers, five cabin crew and two pilots, Vutichai Singhamanee, director of Thailand's Civil Aviation Authority's flight standards bureau, said in a telephone interview.
``More people are dead than survived,'' Thailand's Minister of Tourism and Sports Suvit Yodmani said in a telephone interview in Bangkok. ``We can't identify nationalities yet. This will certainly affect our tourism.''
Phuket is Thailand's premier tourist destination and one of Asia's most popular with international visitors. Earnings from tourism accounted for 7 percent of the Southeast Asian nation's $195 billion economy last year. A tsunami in December 2004 killed about 5,400 people and left nearly 3,000 missing in southern Thailand's islands, including Phuket.
One Two Go is owned by Orient Thai Airlines Co. The flight, OG269, left the capital Bangkok at 3:45 p.m., Chaisak Ungsuwan, director-general of Thailand's Air Transportation Department, told TITV television.
Dead, Hospitalized
Of those on the flight, 88 people are dead, Sasi Pong, a Thai Red Cross official, said in an interview at Phuket's Watchira Hospital. Of 42 people hospitalized, 25 are foreigners, she said.
``About 60 of the bodies were very badly burnt and have not yet been identified,'' she said.
The crash was ``probably weather related,'' said Vutichai of the Civil Aviation Department. ``We don't know if it was pilot error, we are investigating. Maybe it was a microburst windshear.''
A German foreign ministry spokesman said that four Germans had survived the crash and were being treated in hospital, but had no information about the total number of Germans on board.
A British foreign ministry spokesman confirmed that there were British nationals on board, but had no further information. U.K. Ambassador Quinton Quayle was en route to Phuket.
Six Israelis were on the plane, the daily Haaretz newspaper reported, citing the airline's passenger list. A hospital worker in Phuket said two were being treated at a medical facility, the newspaper reported, adding that the other four are feared dead.
One French national is confirmed dead, and a further two are injured, the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
Turbulent Conditions
Windshear, which causes turbulent air conditions, has been a significant cause of aircraft accidents.
Thailand's Ministry of Public Health said 87 people were dead and 43 injured, citing a preliminary count.
``The problem now is we don't have enough cooled morgues,'' a faxed health ministry statement said. ``Right now, the dead bodies are being kept at the airport's conference room.''
The airplane broke in two and caught on fire after skidding and hitting an embankment following its landing in a heavy rainstorm, Channel 7 news reported. Television images showed the aircraft in pieces with smoke billowing from it. Many of the dead were still strapped into their seats, the television report cited eyewitnesses as saying.
Treating Injured
Bangkok Hospital Phuket was treating 28 people injured in the crash, marketing director Narueporn Sinto said in an interview. They included Thais, Australians, Irish, Canadians, French, Israelis, Iranians, Germans and British, she said. Phuket International Hospital has treated 11 people, including Swedish and Dutch, said nurse Thananda Chanakul.
Phuket International Airport will be closed until 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, the Civil Aviation Department's Vutichai said.
Today's accident may be Thailand's deadliest air disaster since a Thai Airways International Pcl Airbus A310-200 crashed while attempting to land in a rainstorm at Surat Thani airport in southern Thailand in December 1998, killing 101 of the 146 people on board.
One Two Go Airline Chief Executive Officer Udom Tantiprasongchai said the company is investigating the crash and is ready to take responsibility. The insurance company will contact those affected by the accident, he said.
``I have contacted our insurance firm in London and we will take full responsibility on this,'' Udom said in an interview. ``We will set up a hotline soon.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLq_FohlMZa4&refer=home
Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- An airliner carrying 130 people crashed on landing in heavy rain on the Thai resort island of Phuket, killing most on board, Deputy Governor Vorapoj Rattasrima said. Passengers included tourists from Britain, Australia, France and the Netherlands.
The budget-carrier One Two Go Airline Co. flight was a McDonnell Douglas Corp. MD-82 carrying 123 passengers, five cabin crew and two pilots, Vutichai Singhamanee, director of Thailand's Civil Aviation Authority's flight standards bureau, said in a telephone interview.
``More people are dead than survived,'' Thailand's Minister of Tourism and Sports Suvit Yodmani said in a telephone interview in Bangkok. ``We can't identify nationalities yet. This will certainly affect our tourism.''
Phuket is Thailand's premier tourist destination and one of Asia's most popular with international visitors. Earnings from tourism accounted for 7 percent of the Southeast Asian nation's $195 billion economy last year. A tsunami in December 2004 killed about 5,400 people and left nearly 3,000 missing in southern Thailand's islands, including Phuket.
One Two Go is owned by Orient Thai Airlines Co. The flight, OG269, left the capital Bangkok at 3:45 p.m., Chaisak Ungsuwan, director-general of Thailand's Air Transportation Department, told TITV television.
Dead, Hospitalized
Of those on the flight, 88 people are dead, Sasi Pong, a Thai Red Cross official, said in an interview at Phuket's Watchira Hospital. Of 42 people hospitalized, 25 are foreigners, she said.
``About 60 of the bodies were very badly burnt and have not yet been identified,'' she said.
The crash was ``probably weather related,'' said Vutichai of the Civil Aviation Department. ``We don't know if it was pilot error, we are investigating. Maybe it was a microburst windshear.''
A German foreign ministry spokesman said that four Germans had survived the crash and were being treated in hospital, but had no information about the total number of Germans on board.
A British foreign ministry spokesman confirmed that there were British nationals on board, but had no further information. U.K. Ambassador Quinton Quayle was en route to Phuket.
Six Israelis were on the plane, the daily Haaretz newspaper reported, citing the airline's passenger list. A hospital worker in Phuket said two were being treated at a medical facility, the newspaper reported, adding that the other four are feared dead.
One French national is confirmed dead, and a further two are injured, the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
Turbulent Conditions
Windshear, which causes turbulent air conditions, has been a significant cause of aircraft accidents.
Thailand's Ministry of Public Health said 87 people were dead and 43 injured, citing a preliminary count.
``The problem now is we don't have enough cooled morgues,'' a faxed health ministry statement said. ``Right now, the dead bodies are being kept at the airport's conference room.''
The airplane broke in two and caught on fire after skidding and hitting an embankment following its landing in a heavy rainstorm, Channel 7 news reported. Television images showed the aircraft in pieces with smoke billowing from it. Many of the dead were still strapped into their seats, the television report cited eyewitnesses as saying.
Treating Injured
Bangkok Hospital Phuket was treating 28 people injured in the crash, marketing director Narueporn Sinto said in an interview. They included Thais, Australians, Irish, Canadians, French, Israelis, Iranians, Germans and British, she said. Phuket International Hospital has treated 11 people, including Swedish and Dutch, said nurse Thananda Chanakul.
Phuket International Airport will be closed until 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, the Civil Aviation Department's Vutichai said.
Today's accident may be Thailand's deadliest air disaster since a Thai Airways International Pcl Airbus A310-200 crashed while attempting to land in a rainstorm at Surat Thani airport in southern Thailand in December 1998, killing 101 of the 146 people on board.
One Two Go Airline Chief Executive Officer Udom Tantiprasongchai said the company is investigating the crash and is ready to take responsibility. The insurance company will contact those affected by the accident, he said.
``I have contacted our insurance firm in London and we will take full responsibility on this,'' Udom said in an interview. ``We will set up a hotline soon.''
