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

[cdnvic]

from the link above ,

Mr. Udom also apologised to the families of the dead for whatever errors or circumstances on the day when accident happened.

He added that the airlines has reduced domestic flights from 40 trips a day to 10 trips to allow its crews and workers to have additional holidays.

The morale of all One-Two-Go employees is high

Probably because they feel safer on their holiday tour bus.

[chinthee]

I wonder if I can get a refund on my prepaid platinum card on 12go?

[Mid]

wasn't there something earlier in the thread about over worked pilots ..........................

[chrislarsson]

There seems to be a great lack of trust among many of the posters on whether there will be a thorough investigation, where all stones will be lifted, in this accident or not.

My guess is that it is very difficult to hide anything when there are so many parties involved. Any cover up will also have the potential to result in immensely greater damage to the image of Thailand, than any revelation of security breaches committed by One-Two-Go or Phuket Airport ever can. Remember that the EU banned all Indonesian airlines earlier this year after a series of accidents.

Are there any industry experts here that have more accurate information about investigations of air accidents?

Edited September 20, 2007 by chrislarsson

[skippybangkok]

the one that went down in surat thani, was there ever a conclusion on that ?

[macduff]

As this is an in house investigation i'm sure manufacture might be the key word here. No other country involved.

[cdnvic]

As this is an in house investigation i'm sure manufacture might be the key word here. No other country involved.

The US is helping with the black boxes, and Boeing, as the manufacturer is also involved. Hopefully that will help.

[chrislarsson]

As this is an in house investigation i'm sure manufacture might be the key word here. No other country involved.

Really!?

Yitzhak Raz will travel to Phuket at the invitation of Thai air transportation authorities. Thailand extended Israel a formal invitation to participate in the investigation of the deadly crash Wednesday.

"Israel's participation in the probe allows us to learn more about the incident, and we will have a closer look at how the investigation is progressing," the ministry's foreign relations officer Avner Ovadia told Haaretz. "Additionally, it will improve the probe's quality and credibility."

Experts from Australia and the U.K. are contributing to the investigation. The crash claimed the lives of at least eight Britons another eight are still missing and one Australian man.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/905363.html

[JetsetBkk]

Air-crash mystery hero steps forward

Australian Robert Borland (right) thanks his savior Paiboon Phaphan, who pulled him from the burning fuselage of Flight OG269 on Sunday.

PHUKET CITY: Australian Robert Borland, who was pulled from the burning wreckage of One-Two-Go Flight OG269 on Sunday by a “man in a yellow shirt”, finally got a chance to thank his savior in a meeting arranged yesterday afternoon by the staff of Bangkok Phuket Hospital, where both men are being treated for injuries sustained in the crash.

The hero was identified as Paiboon Phaphan, a 39-year-old air-conditioner mechanic and resident of Village 3, Tambon Pa Khlok, Thalang.

K. Paiboon, who suffered a back injury and walked to the meeting supported by a brace, told the Gazette in a weak voice that he was not a regular flyer and was returning from Bangkok with his boss at the time of the accident.

“I am still afraid to fly now. I think it will take some time before I will be able to fly again,” he said.

Mr Borland, 48 years old and a 10-year resident of Phuket, suffered a broken bone in his back and was trampled by passengers desperate to escape the burning fuselage. Thanks to K. Paiboon, he was among the last to make it out of the plane alive.

“Other people were trying to escape, and many of them were stepping over and on top of me. I was also on fire. My trousers were burning… I couldn’t get out of the aircraft, but I think there was a Thai man and he had a yellow shirt on; he dragged me through the emergency exit and onto the wing.

“Because the wing was slippery, I slid off it and fell to the ground. I was seated in the aircraft’s midsection, near the wing and the emergency exit, which was quite lucky for me,” he told the Gazette earlier.

After meeting Mr Borland, K. Paiboon recounted his own memory of the chaos. “It was raining very hard and the landing was very hard, much harder than usual, so I put my head down and braced myself against the seat in front of me,” he said.

“After we crashed with a loud bang everything went dark and a fire broke out in front of me. Then I heard a farang behind me and I saw him push open the emergency exit door.

“I was able to breath only twice because the air was burning my nose. When I managed to get out I was standing on the wing and I saw many passengers following me.”

K. Paiboon said he waited on the wing until his boss, K. Chaowalert, and his son Jumbo had escaped.

After they had safely made it out he noticed Mr Borland, with his legs on fire. Ignoring his own bleeding head wound, K. Paiboon pulled Mr Borland out onto the wing before looking back inside for more survivors.

When he looked back, Mr Borland was gone so he assumed he had slid off the wing and fallen to the ground.

Also, Jumbo became stuck in the mud below when fell off the wing. K. Paiboon pulled he boy to safety and then went to look for the boy’s mother, who was thought to be still inside the plane.

“I called but nobody answered, then the fire trucks began to arrive and they told me to come down,” he said.

K. Paiboon said he feels better now and has been cleared to leave the hospital, but will stay for a week to receive the physical therapy he needs because it is too difficult for him to travel back and forth from home in his condition.

K. Paiboon’s mother told Gazette that her son, a former soldier, had always been a good son and liked to help other people.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.as...1&display=1

I guess K. Paiboon was too busy to get his video camera out.

[Mid]

As this is an in house investigation i'm sure manufacture might be the key word here. No other country involved.

Really!?

Yitzhak Raz will travel to Phuket at the invitation of Thai air transportation authorities. Thailand extended Israel a formal invitation to participate in the investigation of the deadly crash Wednesday.

"Israel's participation in the probe allows us to learn more about the incident, and we will have a closer look at how the investigation is progressing," the ministry's foreign relations officer Avner Ovadia told Haaretz. "Additionally, it will improve the probe's quality and credibility."

Experts from Australia and the U.K. are contributing to the investigation. The crash claimed the lives of at least eight Britons another eight are still missing and one Australian man.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/905363.html

but wait , there's more ....................................

The Convention on International Civil Aviation affords any state whose citizens were killed in a plane crash the right to participate in the investigation of the crash. But the convention grants only observer status, and the privilege of any information investigators uncover.

[chrislarsson]

The two British "heroes" have now stated that all they did was opening the emergency door and running away from the plane as fast as they could (as I think most of us would have done).

Apparently they are now heading for the Full Moon party

http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2172199,00.html

[macduff]

As this is an in house investigation i'm sure manufacture might be the key word here. No other country involved.

Really!?

Yitzhak Raz will travel to Phuket at the invitation of Thai air transportation authorities. Thailand extended Israel a formal invitation to participate in the investigation of the deadly crash Wednesday.

"Israel's participation in the probe allows us to learn more about the incident, and we will have a closer look at how the investigation is progressing," the ministry's foreign relations officer Avner Ovadia told Haaretz. "Additionally, it will improve the probe's quality and credibility."

Experts from Australia and the U.K. are contributing to the investigation. The crash claimed the lives of at least eight Britons another eight are still missing and one Australian man.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/905363.html

I was refering to the airline not the occupants

[taxexile]

K. Paiboon said he waited on the wing until his boss, K. Chaowalert, and his son Jumbo had escaped.

well , that must be a first.

[chrislarsson]

but wait , there's more ....................................

The Convention on International Civil Aviation affords any state whose citizens were killed in a plane crash the right to participate in the investigation of the crash. But the convention grants only observer status, and the privilege of any information investigators uncover.

Haha...I knew that was coming. Stupid of me not to include it from the beginning. However, it will still make the investigation more credible. I never heard about people shutting up about things like this. What will Thailand do if they go to the press ones back home?

[chinthee]

but wait , there's more ....................................

The Convention on International Civil Aviation affords any state whose citizens were killed in a plane crash the right to participate in the investigation of the crash. But the convention grants only observer status, and the privilege of any information investigators uncover.

Haha...I knew that was coming. Stupid of me not to include it from the beginning. However, it will still make the investigation more credible. I never heard about people shutting up about things like this. What will Thailand do if they go to the press ones back home?

Well, there's always the language angle. Many things get lost in translation....

[Mid]

^^

the privilege of any information investigators uncover.

suggest it depends on how the above is deciphered ..........................

Edited September 20, 2007 by Mid

[chrislarsson]

the one that went down in surat thani, was there ever a conclusion on that ?

This is a good article about that one.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jan1999/air-j13.shtml

[jeebusjones]

The two British "heroes" have now stated that all they did was opening the emergency door and running away from the plane as fast as they could (as I think most of us would have done).

Apparently they are now heading for the Full Moon party

http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2172199,00.html

That article incorrectly states that the plane was 12 years old. It was 24 years old, this has been repeatedly confirmed.

It also states that Americans were among the victims, but this is the first I've heard of that.

Is Guardian reporting always this good?

Edited September 20, 2007 by jeebusjones

[chrislarsson]

For your information I would just like tell that Scandinavian Airways had two accidents within one week just earlier this month. There are now a criminal investigation initiated.

Although nobody were seriuosly injured I still find this more disturbing than the accident in Phuket.

• On September 9, 2007, a Dash 8-400 (Q400), SAS flight SK1209 with 69 passengers and 4 crew members was on flight to Aalborg Airport when problems with the main landing gear was identified. The pilots were forced to make an emergency landing at Aalborg Airport. After landing the right gear collapsed and the plane toppled to the right and turned around and ended on a field and the right engine caught fire. The fire was immediately extinguished. There were no severe injuries.
  
• On September 12, 2007, a Dash 8-400 (Q400), SAS flight SK2748 with 48 passengers and 4 crew members was on flight to Palanga, Lithuania when problems with the main landing gear was identified. The pilots were forced to make an emergency landing at Vilnius Airport (better suited for an emergency landing). After landing the right gear collapsed. There were no severe injuries. All SAS Dash 8-400 planes are grounded for the time being.
  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Airlines_System#Incidents_and_accidents

[A_Traveller]

Is Guardian reporting always this good?

It's often parodied as the Grauniad for legendary copy & spelling errors.

Regards

[chrislarsson]

At least there was one true hero

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...014-662,00.html

[A_Traveller]

Confused?

In related news, Chaisak Angsuwan, director-general of the Civil Aviation Department said One-Two-Go Flight 0G029's pilot had retracted the landing gear when the plane was 100 feet above the ground so he could ascend, said Chaisak, a director of Airports of Thailand (AOT), he told the AOT board yesterday the plane's wheels did not touch the runway at the time of the accident.

Image c/o Channel 11 and posted earlier LINK

Despite the incident, Phuket International Airport's safety standards had been proven to be in good condition as the incident showed no failing in the airport's runway or other equipment, he claimed.

Too many posts to link to, though many raising time of emergency service arrival, operation delays and concerns expressed etc. all of which seemed to have passed the DG by.

Regards

edit /PS I'm not asking for perfection here, but what about 'We are going to review our performance to ensure that if there are any lessons to learn we are aware of them', and <deleted> until a proper examination of the evidence has been undertaken.

PPS Any Thai journalists read this! //

Source The Nation LINK

Edited September 20, 2007 by A_Traveller

[Crossy]

The two British "heroes" have now stated that all they did was opening the emergency door and running away from the plane as fast as they could (as I think most of us would have done).

Apparently they are now heading for the Full Moon party

http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2172199,00.html

That article incorrectly states that the plane was 12 years old. It was 24 years old, this has been repeatedly confirmed.

It also states that Americans were among the victims, but this is the first I've heard of that.

Is Guardian reporting always this good?

Colin Denny, a close mate who sadly lost his life in this crash was a dual British / American passport holder, so the Garudian are at least partly correct.

Edited September 20, 2007 by Crossy

[sbk]

The two British "heroes" have now stated that all they did was opening the emergency door and running away from the plane as fast as they could (as I think most of us would have done).

Apparently they are now heading for the Full Moon party

http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2172199,00.html

That article incorrectly states that the plane was 12 years old. It was 24 years old, this has been repeatedly confirmed.

It also states that Americans were among the victims, but this is the first I've heard of that.

Is Guardian reporting always this good?

According to the Denver Post, 5 Americans died.

A former Denver businessman was one of the victim's in Sunday's airplane crash in Thailand.

Stefan Mark Woronoff, 42, was one of five Americans who died in the plane, which was flying from Bangkok to Phuket, where Woronoff lived.

[cdnvic]

Colin Denny, a close mate who sadly lost his life in this crash was a dual British / American passport holder, so the Garudian are at least partly correct.

Sorry to hear that Crossy

[sbk]

At least there was one true hero

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...014-662,00.html

PHUKET plane crash survivor Robert Borland was overcome by emotion and gratitude yesterday as he met the "saint in yellow" who helped save his life by dragging him from the burning plane.

Words were not necessary as Paiboon Paphan, suffering his own back injury, stood from his wheelchair to hold the hand of the man who owed his life to him.

Mr Borland's voice trembled as he thanked his hero rescuer.

It was the first time the two men had seen each other since Sunday when Mr Paiboon pulled a seriously injured Mr Borland to an emergency exit of the plane.

All Mr Borland could remember of him was that he had been wearing a yellow T-shirt -- a mark of respect shown by Thais to their beloved king worn at the beginning of each week.

Clutching hands, Mr Borland, who is fluent in Thai, said simply: "Thank you so much. I don't recognise you without your yellow shirt.

"I don't know whether I would have got out, I really don't."

Asked if he could put into words his emotions at meeting the man he had described this week as a saint and an angel in yellow, Mr Borland was close to tears: "I don't think I can, I am sorry."

Mr Paphan's selfless actions helped saved two people, but a friend died in the crash, which killed 89 people.

"It just shows the generosity of the Thai people," Mr Borland said, adding that the pair would share a long friendship.

"When we both get out of here, we are going to have some food together," he said.

Mr Borland, who suffered burns, and injuries to an arm and his back, had more surgery yesterday before the meeting.

His left arm was dislocated in the crash. He was on fire and he could not get out of the right side of the plane.

Mr Borland was trying to drag himself to the other side when Mr Paphan came to his rescue.

Mr Paphan was injured himself but said he did not feel the pain in his back. All he felt was an overwhelming urge to help others.

Yesterday, as he recovered in hospital, the 39-year-old air-conditioning salesman told of seeing Mr Borland trapped as the plane caught fire and passengers struggled to flee.

Realising that Mr Borland was unable to move, Mr Paphan, who is slight in comparison to the much bigger man, grabbed him by the arms and pulled him toward the nearby exit door.

"As a human being, I wanted to help Mr Robert because at that time Mr Robert really needed my help," Mr Paphan said.

"I was quite sure I was safe at the time, but Mr Robert really needed my help because he could not move anywhere."

[Crossy]

Colin Denny, a close mate who sadly lost his life in this crash was a dual British / American passport holder, so the Garudian are at least partly correct.

Sorry to hear that Crossy

Unfortunately these things happen, his wife Bee got out. She's still in hospital in Phuket (happily not in danger), five of her family drove down from Chiang Rai (in a 2 door pickup) to be with her. Colin's daughters from a previous marriage arrived yesterday for the identification task. Funeral will be in Bangkok, hopefully next week.

RIP mate

[sbk]

Colin Denny, a close mate who sadly lost his life in this crash was a dual British / American passport holder, so the Garudian are at least partly correct.

Sorry to hear that Crossy

Unfortunately these things happen, his wife Bee got out. She's still in hospital in Phuket (happily not in danger), five of her family drove down from Chiang Rai (in a 2 door pickup) to be with her. Colin's daughters from a previous marriage arrived yesterday for the identification task. Funeral will be in Bangkok, hopefully next week.

RIP mate

Sad news, from the reports coming in it sounds like quite a few Phuket residents were on board.

Condolences to everyone affected.

[mikethevigoman]

Anyone else see this, a scotsman went to the hospital at the same time as the crash and was accidently listed as a passenger, read on ,but im asking myself at a critical time like that he wuldnt tell anyone why ! there are some odd people about,...... PHUKET, Thailand (Reuters) - The number of survivors of the Phuket air crash was cut by one to 41 on Monday after a Thai hospital mistakenly included a Scottish tourist on the list, officials said.

Tourist Benjamin Green, 24, from Edinburgh, arrived in Phuket on Sunday and went to the Bangkok Phuket Hospital around the time survivors of the crash during a fierce monsoon storm were being brought in and was listed erroneously as one of them, they said.

Phuket Deputy Governor Vorapot Rajsima said 85 bodies had been removed from the wreckage and it was now believed four more, not three, remained to be extracted.

Green declined to say why he went to the hospital.

"I have nothing to do with the plane and its passengers. I would rather not say why I come to the hospital," he told reporters,.( im sorry i see i have added this topic in the wrong section, could a mod please move ? )

Edited September 21, 2007 by mikethevigoman

[Jai Dee]

Thai Airways calls on all parties to stop making speculation on cause of Flight 269 crash

The Managing Director of Thai Airways International is calling on all parties to stop making speculations on the cause of the crash of Flight 269 in Phuket province.

Mr. Apinan Samunaseranee (อภินันท์ สมุนะเศรณี) said that criticism and speculations over the cause of the crash of One Two Go Airlines Flight 269 in Phuket International Airport should be stopped due to the confusion such input is creating for operational personnel and officials. Mr. Apinan said that speculation and criticism may also decrease public confidence in Thailand's civil aviation and tourism industries.

The Managing Director of Thai Airways International asked all parties to wait for the results of black box analysis conducted by US and Thai officials. Mr. Apinan would also like to respond to critism that Phuket International Airport is not equipped with special wind profilers by informing critics that only a few airports in the world possess such equipment.

The Thai Airways International Managing Director added that Phuket Airport is an international level airport which meets global safety standards.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 21 September 2007