Flight OG269: At Least 88 Bodies Found At Phuket Airport Crash Site

[chrislarsson]

Here is another article from Bangkok Post supporting the aborted landing scenario:

"The pilot appeared to attempt a landing, only to change his mind when the plane was about 100 metres from the runway. According to witnesses, the 25-year-old McDonnell Douglas MD-82 jet appeared to rise slightly before crashing into the ground, skidding, breaking in half and bursting into flames."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/tops...s.php?id=121790

[A_Traveller]

Realistically, the only relevant data will come from the FDR and CVR analysis.

Regards

Edited September 18, 2007 by A_Traveller

[JimsKnight]

The Briton who is being hailed a hero is a small piece of good news to come out of this. He is said to of kicked a window panel out / opened the emergency exit (no mean feat for an untrained passenger) and then rescued five other passengers by getting them out and onto the wing.

The Thai PM has visited him at his bedside at Phuket hospital and congratulated him, giving him some flowers.

I think his name is Peter Hill.

Well done Peter

Edited September 18, 2007 by JimsKnight

[JetsetBkk]

video by passenger just after he escaped the plane

wait for the advert to finish , 14 seconds.

Does anyone else feel a little bit uncomfortable watching a video made by one survivor of another probably shocked but clearly able-bodied survivor, posing for the video and chatting to other able bodied survivors while a few hundred yards away there were people in need of a little help?

[keemapoot]

video by passenger just after he escaped the plane

wait for the advert to finish , 14 seconds.

Does anyone else feel a little bit uncomfortable watching a video made by one survivor of another probably shocked but clearly able-bodied survivor, posing for the video and chatting to other able bodied survivors while a few hundred yards away there were people in need of a little help?

Are you saying this was staged? What with 1 minute notice? Come on, this is live video by absolutely shell-shocked survivors of a major tragedy.

How dare you question the veracity of this.

[JetsetBkk]

Dear, oh dear. Are you drunk? What I'm saying is that I'm pretty sure I would try to help some of those still coming out of the plane, not get out my video camera.

[keemapoot]

Ok, fair enough misunderstanding. These tragedies do bring out the tempers.

[cdnvic]

I hope that I would too, but panic does different things to different people. Some will rush to help others, like the Brit in one of the above posts did, and some will try to get themselves on YouTube.

[canuckamuck]

As I said before, none of the survivors seem interested in the plane in the video, You can see them slowly walking away. This says to me that when it was shot, it was already obvious there were to be no more survivors. no one can say the camera did not help anyone get out. He might be one of the heros for all you know.

[keemapoot]

As I said before, none of the survivors seem interested in the plane in the video, You can see them slowly walking away. This says to me that when it was shot, it was already obvious there were to be no more survivors. no one can say the camera did not help anyone get out. He might be one of the heros for all you know.

Yes, Canuck I think you're right.

[taxexile]

i dont think anybody can predict how they would react after surviving an air crash .

the guys in the video looked to be in shock to me. despite being unharmed.

i saw no posing , and heard no "chatting".

[peterpanner]

It's so easy to say "I'd help others" when you sit on your couch. These guys just saw many dead people around them and were probably realizing that they got away with their lifes!

By the way, at least one of them does not look that unharmed at all.

[simon43]

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

[\quote]

Absolutely ties in with what I experienced some 600 metres away from the airport at that time.

Simon

[geriatrickid]

I have read the comments regarding the seating assignments of those that survived and wanted to see for myself. I took the flight manifest and overlaid it with the list of survivors in a spread sheet. Rows 21- 29 were where most survivors sat. 1 from row 14 and 6 from 18-20. I then looked at where the exits were (approx to rows 20/21 & 28) I may be off a row as I don't have the 1-2 Go config. There was 1 survivor in Row 6. Of the survivors in rows 14-20, all were seated in seats AB. Although there is a possibility that many seats were vacant, the pattern of surviving seat assignments does suggest validation of the the opinions offered as to the intensity of the fire on one side of the plane. As well, it indicates that many passengers may not have died in the crash itself but succumbed to either fire or smoke during the evacuation.

The video taken after the crash (the one drawing criticism) is an important piece of evidence as it indicates that the fire was on one side of the plane (rows DEF aft - mid sections) It is unlikely anyone was using the exit on that side of the plane due to the fire and that everyone was obliged to exit the 2 AB row exits. It is fortunate that these 2 exits were free as the fatalities would have been higher had the fire been on this side.

The lack of an additional exit will undoubtedly draw a serious examination by the review board and further reinforce existing findings that egress provided by this discontinued model is inadequate when a maximum seating configuration is used. It is worth noting that the high density seating of 172 PAX is not found on scheduled airlines which use a maximum of 140 seats in a 1 class layout. The industry reference materials indicate that while 172 is indeed the planes max capacity, most charter airlines favour a max density of 161-164. Therefore, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that the use of a high density configuration was an impediment to a prompt evacuation.

There are 2 lessons I am taking away from this tragedy; 1: To continue to select aircraft that do not try and cram as many passengers as possible onto the plane, even if I have to pay more and 2: To continue to select flag carriers that have up to date fleets with the most current of onboard safety features including appropriate exits.

Edited September 19, 2007 by geriatrickid

[brahmburgers]

Maybe it's no more than semantics, but; you cannot blame bad weather for a crash. Bad weather happens, everyone knows this. That's why we make adjustments, when using heavy machinery, for it. Inclement weather is a factor, no doubt, in this terrible tragedy, ......but it is the pilots in the air and the professionals on the ground who need to make decisions on how to deal with it.

It the sun shining in a pilot's eyes caused a crash, would the pilot blame it on the sun shining? No, the pilot knows the sun shines and would either wear sunglasses or use a visor.

This crash is almost identical to the crash at Surat Thani, where a pilot aborted two attempted landings (and should have gone to another field) but pushed for a third, and caused over 50% fatalities. Not surprisingly, Thai Airways (in that scenario) used all their corporate muscle to deny deny deny any culpability on the part of the pilot.

Fromthe airline bosses' perspective it's all about money (settlements, higher insurance premiums, loss of future revenue, etc). They know how liabilities work, and they're doing everything they can to save their butts. As for what's true, or decent, or responsible ....forget it, that has no bearing on their announcements. There are also possible culpability issues with the airport control tower personnel and/or faulty monitoring equipment.

[thai_narak]

this is from a post on the phuket crash thread on ...

very chilling....

although we cannot rule out yet what really happened during the landing (attemp) but it is clear that the crews of 1-2 Go are overworked. this may have contributed to the pilot's decision to land instead of diverting to another airport as he and his FO are already exhausted and wanted to rest.

budget airlines, how they make ends meet?

[naka]

As I said before, none of the survivors seem interested in the plane in the video, You can see them slowly walking away. This says to me that when it was shot, it was already obvious there were to be no more survivors. no one can say the camera did not help anyone get out. He might be one of the heros for all you know.

And of course there was also the possibility of the plane exploding at any moment

Naka.

[jeebusjones]

As I said before, none of the survivors seem interested in the plane in the video, You can see them slowly walking away. This says to me that when it was shot, it was already obvious there were to be no more survivors. no one can say the camera did not help anyone get out. He might be one of the heros for all you know.

I think you can't necessarily make that assumption. These people had just survived a traumatic experience and were just happy to be alive. Also, as Naka pointed out, the plane could have exploded at any moment. It is entirely possible that some people stayed behind to help others, and were consumed by the flames.

Also, rescue crews should never assume the worst and should have arrived immediately in the hopes that there were more survivors than the ones who were able to walk away. Someone previously pointed out that most of the victims were still strapped into their seats, indicating that they had been unconscious when the plane came to a stop. Certainly some of them would have been killed in the collision, but undoubtedly many of them were merely unconscious due to the jolt of the crash.

Had the fire been controlled, who knows how many more people could have survived.

[NBT TV Phuket]

MiniVDO: The royally granted fund in support of medical supplies and equipment to support the plane crash patients in Phuket already reached the hospital recipients yesterday.

To see or download mini-video, go http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=214792

Following a tragic plane accident at Phuket International Airport on Sunday their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand graciously donated 900,000 baht in support of the hospitals which are providing treatment for the injured. The funds were presented to each hospital by Phuket Governor Nirund Kalayanamit. Among recipients are Wachira Phuket hospital at 100,000 baht, Bangkok Phuket Hospital at 500,000, Phuket International Hospital at 200,000 and Thalang hospital with a 100,000 baht fund.

MiniVDO: Injured patients were transferred to hospitals in Bangkok & Israel for specific treatment.

To see or download mini-video, go to http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=214791

The C 130 aircraft from the Royal Thai Air Force arrived at Phuket International Airport after midday yesterday to transfer patients being treated at Bangkok Hospital in Phuket to the Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok. The hospital director Dr. Kongkiat Kespetchara revealed that the patients are suffering severe burns from the One – Two – Go aircraft crash on Sunday afternoon at Phuket International Airport. One is British the other a local Thai politician in PhangNga. The man will undergo special treatment with a specialist at the Bangkok Hospital expected to take around two to four weeks to recover while the British tourist was arranged to be sent for medical care at home. The patients were on board the aircraft to Bangkok late afternoon yesterday. The hospital also transferred out two Israeli patients related to each other back for treatment in their home country as they are quickly recovering and able to travel longer distances.

MiniVDO: The Deputy Minister of Interior called a meeting with all responsible agencies to wrap up the rescue operation and ensure appropriate assistance for the One –Two-Go plane crash victims.

To see or download mini-video, go to http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=214790

After the plane wreckage was removed and airport re-opened for service, Deputy Minister of Interior Mr. Banyat Chansena yesterday called a meeting with all responsible agencies under the Relief Centre for Plane Crash Victims to discuss various issues. The main topic was the compensation for injured people and families of those who perished. While the authority stressed that victims must be taken care of and compensation appropriately paid to the victims, the Orient Thai company Chairman Mr. Udom Tantiprasongchai reassured that the company will be responsible for the medical and compensation with initial payment for families to manage the funeral ceremony at 100,000 baht each.

Interview Udom Tantiprasongchai, Chairman of One Two Go Airlines,Orient Thai

To see or download mini-video, go to

http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=214789

Our reporter talked to Udom Tantiprasongchai, Chairman of One Two Go Airlines, also known as Orient Thai, during his visit to Phuket airport, He first confirmed about the insurance cover: …… If you need to contact their Phuket Coordination Center their telephone is 076 351158.

MiniVDO: Phuket Airport sees a large number of passengers and active flight bookings in and out, after it reopened on Monday evening.

To see or download mini-video, go to http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=214788

After reopening for service at 5pm on Monday 17 September, following closure of 24 hours, the Phuket International Airport yesterday was busy with 106 flights requesting take off and landing. The airport has a capacity to handle 114 flights per day. As many raised concern that the runway leads to the sea, the Airport Director Squadron Leader Pornchai Uau-Aree reaffirmed that since its opening the airport had never experienced an accident on its runway. Sunday’s accident was the first time this occurred. He also pointed that the airport is certified for its emergency handling according to International Civil Aviation Organization or ICAO standards.

Interview - Squadron Leader Pornchai Eua-aree, Director of Phuket International Airport

To see or download mini-video, go to http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=214787

In order to get more in depth information, our reporter interviewed Squadron Leader Pornchai Eua-aree, the Director of Phuket International Airport, who has had to deal with a lot of stress and exhausted staff over the last 3 days. He told us first it was an unlucky event due to bad weather: …… Contact: 07 632 7230-7 [email protected]

MiniVDO: The Ministry of Public Health confirmed conditions of injured passengers, while it also provides mental healthcare.

To see or download mini-video, go to http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=214786

The Minister of Public Health Dr Mongkol Na Songkhla visited the sites where the containers keeping bodies of victims are, to inspect and discuss with officials. He then furthered his trip to visit patients being treated at three hospitals in Phuket to offer his condolences to patients and families as well as thank medical teams. The Minister reaffirmed that no more fatal cases were reported with all 38 injured recovering satisfactorily. The Minister also expressed his satisfaction on the Emergency Medical Service or EMS which he believed has saved some lives. On the mental care, the Ministry has sent expert psychologists to give consultations. He admitted a few survivors are still suffering psychological trauma with two cases needing special care as they lost their spouses or relatives.

MiniVDO: All 89 dead bodies from the Phuket plane crash have gone through the postmortem process.

To see or download mini-video, go to http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=214785

Andaman News TV11 (VHF dial) 8.30am + maybe FM90.5 Radio Thailand 6pm, both broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, FM108 Mazz Radio 7.30pm in Phuket & Phuket Cable TV Channel 1 at 7, 10.30 or 11pm, Wednesday 19th September 2007 & www.Thaisnews.com

All 89 dead bodies from the Sunday plane crash at Phuket Airport have now been through the postmortem examinations. Among them as of yesterday 53 names are identified, 32 are Thais and 21are foreigners. According to the official figures, 35 bodies have been collected by families, including the Indonesian captain Aref Mulyadee whose body has been flown back to his home country. The remaining 54 bodies are being refrigerated in containers at minus – 4 Celsius temperature at the airport. Meanwhile yesterday the Royal Thai Police Victim Identification team explained procedures for getting the bodies for officials from different nationalities who represented the families. Among documents required are dental records, or distinguishing marks to prevent misidentification.

Interview - Police Colonel Ponprasert Ganjnarin, also known as Colonel ‘Jon’, the Deputy Commander, Foreign Affairs Division, of the Royal Thai Police

To see or download mini-video, go to http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=214784

We talked to Police Colonel Ponprasert Ganjnarin, also known as Colonel ‘Jon’, the Deputy Commander, Foreign Affairs Division, of the Royal Thai Police, who was previously Joint Chief of Staff, at Thai Tsunami Victim Identification or TTVI Centre in Phuket. He told us more about his team’s role in the identification process: ......... Contact: Tel 076 351517 OneTwoGo 081 7283107

All from Andaman News TV11 (VHF dial) 8.30am + maybe FM90.5 Radio Thailand 6pm, both broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, FM108 Mazz Radio 7.30pm in Phuket & Phuket Cable TV Channel 1 at 7, 10.30 or 11pm, Wednesday 19th September 2007 & www.Thaisnews.com

[CymruAmByth]

Just read the entire pprune.org thread on this, and something interesting appears towards the end of the thread.

The runway at Phuket is not 'grooved'.

I assume this is to allow a run-off of un-needed water and is quite an astonishing omission to safety in a monsoon rain region. Maybe our more erstwhile posters will comment.

Rest In Peace all those poor souls who perished. My Office Manager is taking that exact flight next Sunday for vacation.

Edited September 19, 2007 by CymruAmByth

[cdnvic]

although we cannot rule out yet what really happened during the landing (attemp) but it is clear that the crews of 1-2 Go are overworked. this may have contributed to the pilot's decision to land instead of diverting to another airport as he and his FO are already exhausted and wanted to rest.

budget airlines, how they make ends meet?

Bad airlines may overwork their crews, but budget airlines keep their aircraft full, reduce frills (food, not maintenance), and many other tricks like using alternate airports, hiring non-unionized staff, and onboard sales. They don't do it by cutting corners on safety matters as some seem to want to suggest.

[chrislarsson]

This are the seatings of the survivors:

6 A

10 F

14 B

18 A

19 B

20 A B

21 A

22 A D E F

23 A D E F

24 A B D E F

25 A B D E F

26 A B D E F

27 A

28 B

29 D E F

All passengers escaped through the exit doors at 24A and 25A. The British guys used brute force to open the door at 24A, while the Swedish guys had no problems to open the one at 25A (according to interview they had discussed how to open the door minutes before the landing, which may have helped).

The plane broke at row 17. Looking at the pictures, it's difficult to believe that anyone survivied in front of row 18. My guess is that the 3 passengers in row 6, 10 and 14, were actually located in seats at the end of the plane at the crash.

[Mid]

They don't do it by cutting corners on safety matters as some seem to want to suggest.

and the question of overworked flight deck crew is also a non-starter ........................................

never mind , the pilot has already been hung out to dry on this one , thank ( insert deity ) he was a foreigner .

nobody's interested in what his second last word was .

[BPayette]

WORLD AIRLINER with live footage and updates

http://world-airliner.com/smf/index.php?topic=227.0

why do you put a link to a members only website???

[ChiangMaiAmerican]

To those with every excuse in the book as to why the response to the crash was not quicker, there was a crash at the Hong Kong airport under somewhat similar circumstances in 1999. At the time the aircraft, an MD11, was landing in monsoon weather. There was a hard landing and a crash. There was no prior emergency declared. Yet, an alarm was sounded immediately following the crash and the first crash truck arrived in less than 1 minute quickly followed by others. The resulting fire was under control within 2 minutes and suppressed within 5 minutes. The crash had left the aircraft inverted so passengers would had a more difficult time escaping. Only 3 deaths resulted from this crash. There would have been many more if the fire had not been quickly suppressd. Hopefully the crash response process in the present case will be thoroughly reviewed and improvements made to help improve response time in the event another crash occurs in the future.

http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/Membe...Crash_Paper.pdf

Edited September 19, 2007 by ChiangMaiAmerican

[jeebusjones]

To those with every excuse in the book as to why the response to the crash was not quicker, there was a crash at the Hong Kong airport under somewhat similar circumstances in 1999. At the time the aircraft, an MD11, was landing in monsoon weather. There was a hard landing and a crash. There was no prior emergency declared. Yet, an alarm was sounded immediately following the crash and the first crash truck arrived in less than 1 minute quickly followed by others. The resulting fire was under control within 2 minutes and suppressed within 5 minutes. The crash had left the aircraft inverted so passengers would had a more difficult time escaping. Only 3 deaths resulted from this crash. There would have been many more if the fire had not been quickly suppressd. Hopefully the crash response process in the present case will be thoroughly reviewed and improvements made to help improve response time in the event another crash occurs in the future.

http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/Membe...Crash_Paper.pdf

I agree. See post #456. There's footage of the crash on Youtube. Makes you wonder what could have been.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KNWPTLfaHc

[Mid]

Thai crash investigators say alerts not all working

19 September 2007

PHUKET, Thailand - Thai officials pored over evidence Wednesday trying to piece together what led a plane to crash killing 89 people, as it emerged that systems to detect dangerous winds were not fully working.

Forensic police edged closer to identifying the dead, of whom up to 57 were foreigners, as officials studied whether human error, foul weather or airport malfunctions — or a combination — caused Sunday’s crash.

Vutichai Singhamany, a safety director at the Department of Aviation, told AFP the pilot had put the landing gear down on approach to Phuket airport, but retracted it and tried to pull up.

“The wheels did not touch the runway,” Vutichai told AFP. “Then the plane tried to pull up and the accident happened.”

Vutichai confirmed that three of six systems designed to detect a dangerous weather phenomenon known as wind shear were not working when the passenger jet crashed, but said that may not have caused the tragedy.

“Aircraft are equipped with their own warning systems, which do not depend on the ground ones,” he told AFP.

snip

khaleejtimes.com

[Mrjlh]

chrislarsson. A little hint. Look at the position of the flaps and control surfaces.

Correct. Flaps indicate to me he had them in a lift position because of the lower airspeed. They are not fully deployed for a landing. His aileron is in up position on the left and down on the right. Now that I think about it he was correcting to the left not right as I originally said. The wheels are retracted. If in a down position on a hard landing they would have sheared off. Plus you would see deep gouges in the earth which as the picture shows are not there. And none of the other pictures available show it either. Nor do you find any landing gear parts any where. At least they haven't been shown to my knowledge. This also coincides with what the tower controllers said, "wheels where up". I haven't met any one on a plane yet that was able to "see" the wheels down. You can't see them from inside the plane on this model. What people on the plane "heard" was the movement of the flaps. It is also possible he lowered and then re-raised the wheels and passengers heard that.

Although the pilot has final say of the aircraft and everyone will blame him, I think he was trying to do the right thing, got caught in a wind shear, and had no possibility of recovery. The weather front came at him faster than he expected. Weather was the major cause of this accident. End of story. We'll let the black boxes speak and I never believe the "press" anyway. I've yet to see then tell the correct story about anything.

[Supaporn]

although we cannot rule out yet what really happened during the landing (attemp) but it is clear that the crews of 1-2 Go are overworked. this may have contributed to the pilot's decision to land instead of diverting to another airport as he and his FO are already exhausted and wanted to rest.

budget airlines, how they make ends meet?

Bad airlines may overwork their crews, but budget airlines keep their aircraft full, reduce frills (food, not maintenance), and many other tricks like using alternate airports, hiring non-unionized staff, and onboard sales. They don't do it by cutting corners on safety matters as some seem to want to suggest.

All true.... There are Bad airlines, and there are budget airlines..... and then - there are BAD BUDGET airlines. As we have sadly seen.

[Supaporn]

Why do we need black boxes anymore?????????