Cambodia Air Crash May Have Killed 20

[george]

Cambodia air crash may have killed 20

PHNOM PENH: -- A plane in Cambodia carrying about 20 passengers and crew was believed to have gone down in thick jungle south of Phnom Penh, an aviation official said Monday.

The official, who declined to be named, said search parties were being dispatched to Kampot province, about 150 kilometres from the capital, but there was no confirmation yet as to the exact location of the crash. Foreigners were believed to be among the missing.

He declined to immediately confirm the name of the charter company operating the flight but said the missing plane was believed to be a Russian-made aircraft that had been making a scheduled flight from Siem Reap, the gateway to the famed Angkor temples, to the beach resort of Sihanoukville.

The plane took off from the northern town of Siem Reap early Monday and lost contact at around 11 am, he said. Aircraft of its type have a capacity of around 16 passengers and usually carry four crew.

Sihanoukville officially reopened a regional airport earlier this year, and tourism officials have been heavily promoting flights direct from Angkor, the nation's top tourist draw, to that area's pristine beaches, hoping to boost the country's vital tourism industry.

--DPA 2007-06-25

[chatette]

According to Kyodo, it was an Antonov 24 chartered plane that left Siem Reap Airport at 10 a.m. carrying 22 people, including 13 South Koreans and three Czech passengers, and six crew members, of whom one was Russian and five Cambodian

[kudroz]

The airline is believed to be PMTair according to CBC

source: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/06/25/c...sh.html?ref=rss

[WISteve]

PMT Air flying an AN-24.

Those are some old airframes...........

The BBC Report:

Crash near Kampot

~WISteve

[Scott]

Please keep us updated on this situation. It's a little too close to home for comfort.

[george]

Update:

Koreans, Czech on plane missing in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH: -- Rescuers Tuesday in a remote area of Cambodia said they continued to search for the wreckage of a downed plane in thick jungle without luck as monsoon weather deteriorated and hopes of finding survivors dwindled.

Hundreds of Cambodian military scoured a former Khmer Rouge area of Chhuk district in south-western Kampot province for signs of the Russian-made AN-24 aircraft, which went down Monday enroute between the northern temple town of Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, the nation's premier beach resort.

Prime Minister Hun Sen was on his way to the scene Tuesday, where National Disaster Management Committee deputy president Nhim Vanda and Cambodian military commander-in-chief Ke Kim Yan are personally coordinating a rescue effort.

"I appeal to all local people in the area to assist in the rescue," Hun Sen said on national radio. He said he would travel by road, as weather conditions made it unsafe to fly his personal helicopter there.

Local media quoted Siem Reap International airport officials on Tuesday as saying 13 South Koreans, three Czechs, a Russian and a number of Cambodians were among the 22 missing passengers on the PMT Air flight.

"We have yet to find any sign of the plane. Weather conditions here are terrible," a member of the search party said on condition of anonymity.

Helicopter searches were called off Monday night and resumed Tuesday after darkness fell, making it impossible to search thick jungle in pouring rain.

Cambodian civil aviation officials have already speculated that wild monsoon weather may have been to blame for the crash, and that the plane may have slammed into the side of a mountain in heavy fog. Kampot lies about 150 kilometres south-west of Phnom Penh.

PMT Air has a chequered safety record. Two years ago a PMT Air chartered flight skidded off the runway on landing at Rattanakiri provincial airport in the country's far north-east, and last year the small local airline's failure to report a mid-air engine failure during a flight placed it under the scrutiny of Cambodian civil aviation authorities.

Cambodia only recently recommissioned Sihanoukville airport, hoping to draw tourists from the famed Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap to enjoy a seaside holiday at the municipality's pristine beaches, giving a further boost to the country's booming tourism industry.

The crash is the country's worst since a Vietnam Airlines Tupolov went down near Phnom Penh in 1997, killing 64 passengers.

The South Koreans were part of an organized tour group. South Koreans comprise the largest of any nationality of the 1.7 million tourists who visited Cambodia last year, according to Tourism Ministry statistics. South Korea is also a major investor.

--dpa 2007-06-26

[george]

Update:

All 22 dead in Cambodia crash

PHNOM PENH: -- Cambodian rescuers confirmed there were no survivors in a plane crash this week after they found the wreckage Wednesday and began recovering bodies, police said.

The bodies of 10 of 22 victims were brought to a Cambodian hospital morgue, with the rest expected to be transferred by nightfall, a government official said Wednesday afternoon.

Ministry of Transport official Hor Sarun said the bodies were being transferred quickly from the site of the crash via military helicopter in preparation for them being claimed by their families.

The Antonov AN-24 crashed Monday in thick jungle about 150 kilometres south-west from the capital enroute between the temple city of Siem Reap and the beach resort town of Sihanoukville.

Bad weather hampered the search but the wreckage was discovered early Wednesday. All 22 aboard the PMT Air flight, including the Russian pilot, 13 South Korean tourists, three Czechs and Cambodian passengers and crew, were dead at the scene.

Meanwhile aviation experts speculated that pilot error in combination with bad weather may have contributed to the deadly crash.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, experts familiar with the scene said it appeared the plane was off course, possibly due to a storm, and the pilot may not have double checked his coordinates before commencing descent.

The plane crashed just minutes before it was scheduled to land in Sihanoukville.

"It looks like he may have been in the wrong place and didn't check before beginning his descent," one aviation official said.

Bad weather has officially been blamed for the crash of the 30-year-old aircraft in preliminary government statements.

In addition, the small local charter company running the route, PMT Air, has a chequered safety history, earning a warning from the Civil Aviation Secretariat last year for failing to report a mid-flight engine failure.

Questions are likely to be asked about air safety for domestic flights in Cambodia as investigations into the crash are continuing.

Bad weather also hampered the search by more than 1,000 soldiers with visibility in the thickly jungled mountainous area at times put at just 40 metres.

Family members of many of the South Korean victims were expected to arrive Wednesday to collect the remains. The names of the victims have not been released.

--DPA 2007-06-27

[quiksilva]

Tragic news made even worse by the fact that this probably could have been avoided.

In addition, the small local charter company running the route, PMT Air, has a chequered safety history, earning a warning from the Civil Aviation Secretariat last year for failing to report a mid-flight engine failure.

Questions are likely to be asked about air safety for domestic flights in Cambodia as investigations into the crash are continuing.