88 dead in Phuket air crash

At least 88 people including many foreign tourists are dead as a Thai budget aircraft crashed as it tried to land in Phuket breaking in two and bursting into flames.

Phuket’s deputy governor, Vorapot Rajsima, said flight OG269, operated by the Thai budget carrier One-Two-Go had crashed in driving wind and rain about 16:00 local time and he put the death toll at 88.

Australians were among the dead, he said, along with British, Israeli and Irish travellers.

One Australian is being treated in a Thai hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and is being assisted by Australian officials, a DFAT spokesman said, but he was the only confirmed Australian in hospital.

Airports of Thailand officials said eight Britons and seven Thais were among the other survivors.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 was arriving in Phuket from Bangkok.

The director-general of the Air Transport Authority of Thailand, Chiasak Angkauwan, said: “The airplane asked to land but due to the weather in Phuket, strong wind and heavy rain, maybe the pilot did not see the runway clearly.

“The visibility was poor as the pilot tried to land. He decided to make a go-around but the plane lost balance and crashed. It was torn into two parts.”

A senior airport official in Bangkok told a Thai radio station: “The first part of the plane is dug into the ground. The tail section is stuck on the runway.”

Nong Khaonual, a Thai who survived the crash with his wife, said he believed the aircraft had descended too quickly, adding: “The airplane was landing in heavy rain. It landed too fast. It descended very fast.

“Just before we touched the runway we felt the plane try to lift up, and it skidded off the runway.”

Bangkok-based Andrew J Wood, Skal Asian area-director of development, said: “We are of course shocked at the news. We were watching the story unfold, predominantly from the SMS messages we were receiving and subsequently forwarding on to people in the industry that needed to know. Our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected and their families.

“Flying is still the safest mode of transport anywhere in the world, including here in Thailand. When Mother Nature descends with these intense weather pockets, there is of course an increased risk of injury but thankfully such terrible accidents as flight OG 269 are very, very rare.

“However, that does not and will not minimise the sense of loss and pain for the families of those that lost their loved ones in Phuket this weekend. It was a terrible tragedy.”

He added: “Phuket will suffer some short term impact but we believe very little….most travellers understand that it was a freak of nature and most understand that chances of it re-occurring are minimal.  Our estimate is that business will be off 3% in arrival numbers as a result but it should quickly recover as services normalise and the airport gets back on its feet.

“Finally, we would add that the report of emergency services taking up to one hour to reach the airport was worrying, although there were emergency crews based at the airport on 24 hour standby, the reports indicate it was the additional support vehicles that took time to reach the airport.

“If anything good has come from this accident then it will be to review the location of emergency response teams and their equipment.”