Samui Air Crash Cause May Be Known Next Week

BANGKOK, Aug 13 (TNA) – Results retrieved from the black box and the pilots’ voice recorder on the aircraft which hit an unused air traffic control tower at Samui Airport are expected to be known next week, according to the chief of Thailand’s Civil Aviation Department.

Kannika Khemawuthanont, Director-General of Thailand’s Civil Aviation Department, said the black box and the pilots’ voice recorder of the Bangkok Airways’ ATR 72 aircraft were sent to France for investigation on August 11.

The black box containing information of the aircraft's operations and the pilots’ voice recorder can help determine a cause of the air accident at Samui Airport on August 4.

After receiving the results from France next week, a sub-committee investigating the crash will compile the decoded results, other relevant information and testimony from the co-pilot.

A report regarding the plane crash on Surat Thani’s Samui Island will be submitted to the committee in order to determine the cause of the crash, said Wuthichai Singhamanee, a head of the sub-committee and Deputy Director-General of Civil Aviation Department.

In addition, the sub-committee on Monday held talks with French representatives of the aircraft manufacturer after collecting relevant evidence at the airport.

Bangkok Airways flight PG266 from Krabi to Samui carried 68 passengers and four crew members on August 4 skidded off a runway and crashed into the air traffic control tower at Samui Airport, killing the pilot, Chartchai Pansuwan, and injuring dozens. (TNA)

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-- TNA 13/08/09