Helicopter U-turn

[grahamb]

I read this story in the Bangkok Post this morning:

Army helicopter in emergency landing

Phrae _ An army helicopter carrying the commander of the Pha Muang task force, his close aide and two pilots was found yesterday hours after disappearing while flying over Wang Chin district in driving rain. ....

The task force said last night it had found the damaged helicopter in the park. The pilots were slightly injured and Maj-Gen Pairat safe

I logged onto the Bangkok Post website a few minutes ago and the breaking news is:

General, his aide, pilots died in copter crash

The Commander of the Pha Muang task force Maj-Gen Pairat Thongchattu, his close aide and two pilots were found dead at the crash site in Phrae Province. ...

The Royal Thai Armed Forces mobilised 500 soldiers and other volunteers and spent hours searching in the Wiang Kosai National Park. ...

A tragic story but why did they print a story this morning saying they were all safe?

[richard10365]

I just looked (9:57pm) at Bangkok Post and found this:

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Army helicopter in emergency landing

Phrae _ An army helicopter carrying the commander of the Pha Muang task force, his close aide and two pilots was found yesterday hours after disappearing while flying over Wang Chin district in driving rain. The two-seat Jet Ranger helicopter was carrying Maj-Gen Pairat Thongjattu, the task force chief, his aide and two pilots. It left Phitsanulok about 3pm, contacted the air traffic control unit in Lampang and was seen for the last time on the radar screen at 5.50pm. It went missing in Wiang Kosai national park in Phrae's Wang Chin district and is thought to have made a crash landing.

The task force said last night it had found the damaged helicopter in the park. The pilots were slightly injured and Maj-Gen Pairat safe.

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Seems the General is alive.

[george]

Update:

Bodies found at wreckage of army helicopter

PHRAE: -- The bodies of Commander of the northern Pha Muang Force Maj. Gen. Pairatch Thongchattu and his close aide, Maj. Col. Wisit Worawitwatana, as well as two pilots were found Friday afternoon with a burned army helicopter crashing into a valley in the nothern Phrae Province's Wangchin District after it had been missing since Thursday afternoon

The Jet Ranger 206 chopper carried the commander of the northern Pha Muang Force and his close aide before it tried to make an urgent landing in the Wiangkosai National Park in Wangchin District due to low visibility soon after taking off from the lower northern Phitsanulok Province at 3:40 p.m. Thursday.

The Pha Muang Force chief earlier attended an army meeting in Phitsanulok.

The army chopper's last contact with the army ground control was reported at 4:05 p.m.

A survey helicopter found the charred wreckage of the chopper in the valley near a waterfall, adjacent to the Wiangkosai National Park, according to Phrae Deputy Governor Surong Prabrok and Commanding General of the Third Army Area Command Lt. Gen. Saprang Kalayanamitre.

Lt. Gen. Saprang has personally directed the search from Wangchin District and other areas as far as Lampang Province.

A Third Army Area Command rescue team has reached the scene and is taking the bodies out of the site for religious rites.

Lt. Gen. Saprang said all the four dead officers would be promoted to their highest ranks with state support for their families, as they died on duty.

--Agencies 2005-10-14

[richard10365]

From the Nation Newspaper

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Crashed helicopter found, 4 killed

Published on Oct 14 , 2005

Armed Forces search team Friday found wreckage of helicopter which crashed in Wiang Kosai National Park in Phrae province, 4 men on board were killed.

Third Army chief Lt General Saplang Kalanamitr said bad weather had forced the helicopter to crash.

The search effort was hampered early on by inclement weather, but a rescue helicopter managed to locate the site using GPS coordinates Friday afternoon. The army had sent out 500 soldiers and volunteers to search the area on foot.

The victims included the northern border task-force commander, Major-GeneralPhairet Thongchaksu, 58, his aide, and both crew members.

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and now he is not alive.