I flew into Phuket from Bangkok this afternoon on Air Asia flight which landed at approx 3.20 pm which must have been just before this one2go flight. When we were landing there was alot of low cloud which cleared on the approach to the airstripe but was covering the surrounding hills. It had been raining but had stopped for our landing. Got in a cab and was driving down the road when about 5 minutes into the cab journey there was very heavy rain, the taxi driver found it difficult to see and car was aquaplaning abit on the huge puddles created. Must have been this that they were trying to land in. About half hour into our taxi ride the driver received a call from someone at the airport who said a one2go plane had crashed into the mountian and 30 people were dead. He didn't speak much english and my thai is limited so couldn't find out more.

Just got back to hotel to discover how bad it is, very sad news for all those on that flight & their family and friends.

edit - typo

Edited September 16, 200718 yr by kebabman7

Sunday Telegraph Sydney 10PM / Thai 7PM:

A passenger jet carrying 128 passengers and crew crashed and broke into two on landing in bad weather at Thailand's resort island of Phuket, news reports said today.

Around half of the 123 passengers on the airliner were foreigners, an Airports of Thailand official in Bangkok said.

Most of the foreigners were European, the official added. Two Australians who were on board have been injured in the crash.

The budget Thai airliner crashed on landing at the resort island of Phuket in driving rain today, killing as many as 90 per cent of people on board, Phuket's deputy governor said.

"The casualties should be higher than 90 per cent. I'm at the airport and the plane is still smoking," Vorapot Rajsima told Channel 9 television.

Chaisak Chai-arkad, a senior airport official in Bangkok, told Thai radio that the One-Two-Go flight from Bangkok had broken in two on impact. TV images showed a crumpled fuselage.

"The first part of the plane is dug into the ground. The tail section is stuck on the runway," he told Thai radio.

Amid confusion about the number of killed, Phuket's mayor, Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr, said that she had seen more than 50 bodies taken from the wreckage and moved to the terminal's cargo buildings.

However, Anchalee said 20 survivors had been taken to hospital.

The flight to the Andaman sea paradise isle, which was hit by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, was known to be carrying foreign holiday-makers.

One radio station said seven foreign survivors were among those taken to nearby hospitals.

News links from the National In formation Bureau

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...id=255009160025

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...id=255009160028

As we often see in Thailand, many traveler's are only wearing shorts, sandals and tank tops... in a plane in a fire, skin burns first and fast. It is always advisable to wear long pants, real shoes... in a fire situation, it will give you a few precious seconds MORE than those with exposed skins... it might save one's life.

I agree with you. However, in this incident 90% of the passengers did not have a chance due to the breaking up of the plane's structure and ensuing fires and explosions. It's a miracle there are any survivors at all.

Sorry that my former home has been hit again and I wish that the relatives of the deceased may find comfort and a speedy recovery to the injured survivors.

Thank Buddha this was not anywhere near the full capacity of a 747 with 'no frills seating', up to 500.

Fox TV news just reported "61 confirmed dead."

...The pilot tried to do another go-around by pulling up and increasing gas but instead ended up crashing 'outside the runway'...

I used to fly helicopters, and on the few occasions I hit really vile weather, I just bunged the machine in someone’s field and waited. I knew I always had that option so bad met /viz never really scared me.

I know very little about big jets (or indeed any plankwings), but there are some pro jet jockeys on TV: What is the deal if you’re on approach and the gusts / crosswinds etc have increased to beyond the capacity of the a/c? What are you expected to do? Divert to alternate? Turn back? Chance it? What about fuel state? What about the met report before you departed – are they reliable in this part of the world?

I’ve been SLF on a couple of flights in this region where I’ve thought ‘Is he really going to land in this stuff?’. Perhaps there’s no choice when in the tropics?

The opinions of some pro Captains would be instructive.

birago23 Posted Today, 2007-09-16 19:20:09

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Video of the crash site just in...

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Updates and TV screens on www.world-airliner.com !

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

Almost 60 bodies found at Phuket airport

Higher death toll very likely after budget airplane carrying 128 crash landed. At least some 40 passengers injure

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