Live plane crashes in Thailand and breaks in two

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070916/ap_on_re_as/thailand_plane_crash
An Orient Thai Airways jet crashed and broke in two as it attempted to land in heavy rain at the Phuket airport in southern Thailand on Sunday, the Air Transport Authority of Thailand told The Associated Press.

More info coming in live
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=121720
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/16/headlines/headlines_30049141.php

Maybe more than 80 dead
Breaking News live now :-

 

thats bad, poor weather conditions is sometimes worst for airline industry

 

Thunder and lightning too, really appalling weather conditions, rescue is on-going right now live

 

there had been lot of accidents on air while pilot trainings as well, its a dangerous thing, there is no second chance, one error and you are gone.

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/16/headlines/headlines_30049142.php
List of passengers injured in Phuket Airport's plane crash
List of passengers injured in the plane crash at Phuket Airport treated at Siriroj Phuket Hospital and Krungthep Phuket Hospital.


Bangkok Phuket Hospital (21)

1. Thais - 6

2. British - 7

3. Iranians - 3

4. Australians - 2

5. German - 1

6. Iranian - 1

7. Irish - 1

Phuket Hospital

- ICU

1. Likhit Liengpansakul - ICU

2. Parinwit Choosaeng - ICU

3. Chainarong maharae - ICU

4. Apichart Pata

5. Eric Nileland

6. Cristopher Maken

7. Nong Kaonual

8. Ladda Kaonual

9. Pratin Lienchamroon

10. Sarah (unknown surname)

 

Something strange and the list indicates only 41 injured from 128 on board - death toll is likley to rise


"We sat on the 18th row. The weather was real bad and there were lots of unusual noises during the landing. Something was obviously wrong [during the landing]," he said. He and his friend escaped through the emergency door.

A surviving Thai 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."


Krungthep- Phuket Hospital

(From Thaland Hospital)

- Mr Inntrn Burket, 23 - Ireland

- Mr John O' Donnel, 26 - Ireland

- Ms Isabella Freylikhman, 27 - Ireland

- Mr Robert Borland, 48 - Australia

- Mr Viaimir Freylikhma, 29 - Ireland

- Mr Christopher Edward Cooley, 23 - Ireland

- Mr Gilles Thibud - France

- Mr Lamere Maurice, 23 - France

----------------------------------------------------------

Krungthep - Phuket Hospital

- Chawit Jitchamnong

- Chavalert Litchamnong

- Paiboon Papong

- Christov Fachestee (Germany)

- Marsal Chwinnoras (Australia)

- Peter James Hill (England)

- Watcharaphol Singhaphol

- Ashley Scott Harow (England)

- Mayal Metali (Iran)

- Benjamin Criffin (England)

- Jules - England

- Parish - Iran

- Hazmadi - Iran

- Mobahed Kiyani - Italy

- Christopher Cooley - England

- Lace - Thai

- Worawit Mahasap - Thai

- Warren Robert - Australia

- Jan Jerra O'Donnel - Ireland

- William Berg _ UK

Vachira Phuket Hospital

1. Sawitree Dani

2. Bare Bercom

3. Apichart Bata

Siriroj - Phuket Hospital

- ICU

1. Likhit Liengpansakul - ICU


2. Parinwit Choosaeng - ICU


3. Chainarong maharae - ICU


4. Apichart Pata


5. Eric Nihlen (Sweden)


6. Christopher Marken (Sweden)


7. Nong Kaonual


8. Ladda Kaonual


9. Pratin Lienchamroon


10. Sara (unknown surname) (Netherland)

* Foreign names's correct spellings need to be updated.

 

That is so sad....

 

Biggest news story of the day
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070916/ap_on_re_as/thailand_plane_crash

Keep the news coming in maybe this will help with tracking the survivors

 

88 confirmed dead, 42 injured.

 

This is the latest survivor news Updated

List of passengers injured in Phuket Airport's plane crash
List of passengers injured in the plane crash at Phuket Airport treated at Siriroj Phuket Hospital and Krungthep Phuket Hospital (updated)


Krungthep- Phuket Hospital

(From Thaland Hospital)

- Mr Inntrn Burket, 23 - Ireland

- Mr John O' Donnel, 26 - Ireland

- Ms Isabella Freylikhman, 27 - Ireland

- Mr Robert Borland, 48 - Australia

- Mr Viaimir Freylikhma, 29 - Ireland

- Mr Christopher Edward Cooley, 23 - Ireland

- Mr Gilles Thibud - France

- Mr Lamere Maurice, 23 - France

----------------------------------------------------------

Krungthep - Phuket Hospital

- Chawit Jitchamnong

- Chavalert Litchamnong

- Paiboon Papong

- Christov Fachestee (Germany)

- Marsal Chwinnoras (Australia)

- Peter James Hill (England)

- Watcharaphol Singhaphol

- Ashley Scott Harow (England)

- Mayal Metali (Iran)

- Benjamin Criffin (England)

- Jules - England

- Parish - Iran

- Hazmadi - Iran

- Mobahed Kiyani - Italy

- Christopher Cooley - England

- Lace - Thai

- Worawit Mahasap - Thai

- Warren Robert - Australia

- Jan Jerra O'Donnel - Ireland

- William Berg _ UK

Vachira Phuket Hospital

1. Sawitree Dani

2. Bare Bercom

3. Apichart Bata

Siriroj - Phuket Hospital

- ICU

1. Likhit Liengpansakul - ICU

2. Parinwit Choosaeng - ICU

3. Chainarong maharae - ICU

4. Apichart Pata

5. Eric Nihlen (Sweden)

6. Christopher Marken (Sweden)

7. Nong Kaonual

8. Ladda Kaonual

9. Pratin Lienchamroon

10. Sara (unknown surname) (Netherland)

* Foreign names's correct spellings need to be updated.

 

I am shocked that this has happened. Many people have died. I offer my condolences to the families of the victims.

 

bad bad really bad

 

Its really bad news but life is a mystery know buddies knows where it will go

 

Oh man this is really a tragic story,the family members of the victims must have totally broken down.I wish everything goes into normal again!

 

Damn this is really sad, I don't think they will be normal for some time.

 

unfortunately things like this is happening all to often now. disasters seem to be on the news all the time

 

Latest News
Eighty-seven people died and 43 were injured, Health Ministry officials said.



Useful telephone numbers
Useful telephone numbers concerning the One-Two-Go airline's crash at the Phuket International Airport


Bangkok Phuket Hospital

Telephone: 66(0) 76 254425 Hotline (1719)

Vachira Phuket Hospital

Telephone: 66(0)76 361234

Phuket International Hospital

Telephone: 076-249400

Thalang Hospital

Telephone: 076-311033-4, 076-311453

Phuket Airport

076-351-144

076-351166

One-To-Go hotline Number 1126

085-155-4622

085-911-5092

085-918-3422

02-535-7662

02-504-3227

 

Phuket Airport to resume operation at 5 pm
Airports of Thailand on Monday announced that Phuket International Airport will resume its operation at 5 pm Monday.

It said the fact that the One-Two-GO aircraft, flight OG 269, from Bangkok to Phuket crash-landed and skidded off the runway of Phuket International Airport on September 16, 2007 at around 3.30 pm.

The incident has caused the airport to temporarily cease its operation from 4 pm onwards and it has been expected to resume its operation as normal on September 17, 2007 at around 5 pm. - The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/17/business/business_30049232.php
89 passengers confirmed dead
Latest casualty figures showed on Monday at least 89 passengers were killed when a low-price One-Two-Go airliner slid and dived into earthwall at Phuket International Airport on Sunday afternoon

 

According to Boeing's response to the crash:

The airplane, serial number 49183, Variable 80C211, was delivered to a different operator in December 1983. At last report, it had accumulated approximately 64,679 hours and 34,202 cycles.

Seems dear Mr Udom did not do the math correctly and cut the age of the aircraft in half in the media report. Also keep in mind there is the likely fact that nothing had been reported on times and cycles since this aircraft arrived in Thailand.

As to the visual effect of the video taken after the crash and what may have been present on the approach. Anyone who has spent any time in a monsoon downpour can attest that minutes and even seconds can mean the difference between some visibility and none.

Just more fuel for the fires of speculation!!!
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Ok...now I know that many of you would not do this but in Bangkok you can have anything in the world forged including airmen medicals and the Thai DCA does not confirm the validity of any pilot documentation from Foriegn Pilots, including Indonesions, with the issuing authority, FAA, CAA or JAA.

There were rumors of an Orient Thai charter flight into Cambodia back in 2005 that landed and was "ramp checked" by the Cambodian Aviation Authority. There were 4 pilots on board and only one was legal to fly with current documentation. The Chief Pilot of the 757 fleet at that time was on board and guess what? He was one of those who did not have current documents.

So please do not say it was not possible for someone to fly with a medical pulled.
Ok...now I know that many of you would not do this but in Bangkok you can have anything in the world forged including airmen medicals and the Thai DCA does not confirm the validity of any pilot documentation from Foriegn Pilots, including Indonesions, with the issuing authority, FAA, CAA or JAA.

There were rumors of an Orient Thai charter flight into Cambodia back in 2005 that landed and was "ramp checked" by the Cambodian Aviation Authority. There were 4 pilots on board and only one was legal to fly with current documentation. The Chief Pilot of the 757 fleet at that time was on board and guess what? He was one of those who did not have current documents.

So please do not say it was not possible for someone to fly with a medical pulled.
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I have to put my hand up as an old pilot but not bold pilot.
Having flown across most of the world in my own light aircraft over 25 years I know when to say no.

Turning back is never easy.
I suspect a lot harder when you have pax in the back.

This was an old pilot/young sprog in conditions that you want to say no.

In my aircraft I say no.

Flying a bus or truck is a different matter.
Take a look at the Halifax MK accident. Cheap crew and pressure.

Corporate pressure is to blame here.
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A tragic accident. The METARS suggest nothing too bad weatherwise, however evidently something was not quite right. This guy tries an approach from what I hear and he quite rightly doesn't like it so goes around - good call. Why then did he try again straight away - maybe press-onitis, maybe he was watching the fuels guages and didn't have the option of holding, maybe he hadn't thought about taking extra fuel before leaving Bangkok or maybe the company pressurised him to take flight plan fuel and no more??. You know the scenario, short flight, weather seems ok, 3% or 5% contingency fuel on a short flight in reality is NOT MUCH, the weather changes unexpectedly, hence he tries again as the options are running out. Maybe the vis wasn't too good but not bad enough for this to happen. We will have to wait and see the outcome. Don't want to put blame soley on him, maybe company has to take some blame.
Again a tragic accident - there but the grace of god go many of us - IF IN DOUBT TAKE MORE FUEL - GIVES YOU OPTIONS.
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Eyewitness account from Canadian survivor.

"We started to go for the landing and he just about hit the runway, but couldn't make it, so he lifted back up. We started to circle. I thought he was going to circle back around and try again, and then we took a sharp right and we started going for the ground."

Could he have stalled during go-around?

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Orient Thai.......mmm, been an accident looking for a map reference for a long time. .............Know a few guys who have worked there and as soon as they find someone who will do the job for $500 a month less than you, it suddenly becomes very difficult to renew your thai vailidation !!!! These are the guys who sacked the pilot who tried to stop some phillipino mafia pilots from signing their licences after a four hour sim session which was videod with the "in sim" video during which time they played cards for 4 hours..............and is anyone in the know suprised they wipe an MD 80.........er..................NO !!!!
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Being one of the expat pilots who flew for OX for two years, I can say that this was predicted by most of us who worked there and were eventually looking for safer pastures.

A Thai pilot training program was introduced in late 2005 for the MD82's where the average First Officer candidate had 200 hours total time and was paid 1000 USD a month. Indonesion Captains who were willing to work for 4500 USD a month.

6 days off a month with up to six legs or more a day. Duty time or flight time limitations? Are you kidding?

Add into that equation that the aircraft probably had mutiple MEL's that had been deferred beyond the due dates on more than one occasion.

Now mix in an ILS approach, an offset localizer, 460 feet minimums and yes he did land on runway 27, with a missed approach point 1.8 km from the end of the runway. Tell me.....how did he get so close to the runway with NO visual contact as reported by the surviving pax and the tower report that he was going missed?

Perchance...did the Captain set his own minimums, after all he was a seasoned Indonesion Captain and the Air Carriers he formerly worked for have been banned in the EU due to lack of proper pilot training and safety issues.

But all of this is speculation on my part. I only worked there two years and survived.

A sad day that should not have happened if there was proper oversight from the Thai DCA.

More great info from pilots and aviation specialists here

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/19/headlines/headlines_30049482.php

Before the information is extracted from the black boxes of the ill-fated One-Two-Go plane that crashed in Phuket on Sunday, the dispute over what caused Flight OG 269 to hit the runway and to break in two continues
Three major parties involved - the budget airline itself, the air traffic control at Phuket airport, and weather forecast officials - are giving conflicting information on what actually went wrong.

After informing Flight OG 269 about the bad weather situation, the airport and runway conditions, which were clear for landing, the air traffic controller asked the Indonesian pilot for a confirmation of his decision, according to Kumtorn Sirikorn, executive vice president of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand.

"Request your intention," the air traffic controller asked.

The pilot 56-year-old Arief Mulyadi replied: "Landing".

This was one of the last words of communication between the air traffic controller at Phuket airport and Arief, who decided to land the ill-fated One-Two Go aircraft.

Shortly afterward, the aircraft crashed and broke into three, killing 89 passengers and injuring 41 others in one of Thailand's worst air tragedies.

Kumtorn provided this account of conversation between the air traffic controller and Arief. He had listened to the tape recording replaying what happened at the critical moment before the aircraft landing.

The revelation, however, is far from the tell-tale evidence of what caused the plane to crash, including whether it was human error. There have been contradictions in accounts regarding the roles of the pilot and the air traffic controller.

Kumtorn told The Nation that the air traffic controller had earlier been in communication about the bad weather conditions with the pilots of Orient Thai Airlines, which successfully landed about four minutes before the One-Two-Go aircraft's crash-landing.

"There was a warning of wind shear from the pilot of the previous flight, which landed four minutes ahead of One-Two-Go," he told Agence France-Presse in a separate interview.

Arief and his co-pilot also listened to this conversation between the air traffic controller and the pilots of Orient Thai Airlines since their radio receivers were tuned to the same wave- lengths.

They were aware about the rather unusual weather conditions at that moment.

Kajit Habanananda, vice president of One-Two-Go airline, said that Arief Mulyadi, the Indonesian pilot who died, was an experienced aviator and served as an instructor to all 90 pilots including some 30 Thais employed by One-Two-Go.

"He was our number-one pilot. He was composed and well-versed," he added.

Kumtorn said the air traffic controller who conversed with the pilot was experienced and had not been suspended. The unidentified controller was assigned to undergo a psychological rehabilitation course, under regulations after an accident.

The pilot's son told Jakarta-based Tempo newspaper that a senior officer of One-Two-Go Airlines told him that his father had asked to turn back to Bangkok.

Arief Mulyadi once told his son that of all the places he had flown, Phuket had the worst weather, according to the Jakarta Post. But it also had the most beautiful scenery from above.

"Father promised to come home to see his grandsons on Sept. 28," Arief's oldest son, Agung, told news portal detik.com on Monday.

Kumtorn said the air traffic controller told Arief, who was among the dead, that weather conditions were bad.

"Air traffic control asked the pilot whether he knew about the wind shear, and he said he knew. Then the air traffic control official gave him additional information and asked him whether he still wanted to land or not. The pilot insisted he wanted to land.

"Maybe something unusual occurred during his landing attempt."

Kuntorn said nobody knew the exact reasons of the accident and all are waiting for the outcome of the investigation from the black boxes.

Metta Amin, chief of the weather examination unit in Phuket province, said weather conditions at the Phuket airport during the accident were very volatile.

The wind speed suddenly accelerated from 12 knots at 3.30pm to 28-30 knots at 3.42pm, he said.

This happened eight minutes before the crash, before the wind slowed down to 12 knots at 4pm.

Normally his office would update the meteorological information to air traffic control tower every half an hour. But on Sunday between 3.30pm and 4pm, he said his office had to update the weather conditions to the tower four times due to the abrupt changing weather conditions.

The first update was made at 3.30pm. The wind speed was 12 knots and the visibility range was four kilometres. The second update was made at 3.35pm as a result of a sudden heavy downpour which had taken place three minutes earlier.

The third weather update was made at 3.45pm when the wind speed accelerated from 12 knots to 28-30 knots and the visibility range was dramatically dropped to 800 metres at 3.42pm.

"It was an abrupt gusty wind," he said in an interview with The Nation. He added that gusty winds left no time for warnings given to pilots in most cases.

However, Metta declined to comment if the abrupt gusts of wind would affect the landing.

He also denied speculation about the wind shear and microburst. Wind shear is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere, while a microburst is a very localised column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds at the surface.

The last update was made by Metta's office to the air traffic control tower at Phuket airport at 4pm. The wind speed was 12 knots, but visibility had dropped from 4 km at 3.30pm to only 1 km.

"All the weather information form my office was reported to air traffic control tower and the controllers would then inform pilot," he said.

Udom Tantiprasongchai, president of budget carrier One-Two-Go which operated the doomed plane, admitted the airline bore some responsibility for the crash.

"It is too soon to jump to conclusions, it is unfair to our staff. Please wait until the investigation is finished. But definitely it is partially our responsibility," he told reporters.

One-Two-Go's Kajit said the pilot had been warned about the wind, but urged investigators not to assume that human error was to blame for Thailand's worst air disaster in a decade.

"It's true that there was a warning of wind shear from the previous flight," Kajit said.

"But the wind is constantly changing," he said, adding that such weather conditions were the main factor that would influence a decision on whether to abort the landing.

Chaisak Angsuwan, director-general of the Air Transport Department, said the cause of the crash should not involve the type of the MD82 aircraft, as another MD82 also operated by One-Two-Go airline, landed safely four minutes before flight OG-269.

He said all airlines operating in Thailand were qualified to meet flight safety standards under International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requirements, whether they were low-cost or luxury airlines.

One-Two-Go will pay Bt100,000 in initial compensatory payments to each of the 123 passengers and provide free flights to relatives of those killed or injured in the crash between Bangkok and Phuket, said government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp.

He said the information in the two black boxes, each containing the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, would be extracted at the US National Transportation Safety Board within the next ten days.

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont yesterday instructed government agencies to take care of compensatory payments for families of the Thais who had been killed and for the rehabilitation of the 41 injured passengers.

The Consumer Protection Board will make sure each individual insurance coverage will fully benefit or compensate each beneficiary, while the Tourism and Sports Ministry will soon work out solutions to boost tourism and build-up the safety image of travel in Thailand.

Some more info here Arnie your comments will be welcome thanks