Airline world

Additional information to our previous article:

Approximately 6 hours ago, at 15:35 local time on Sunday afternoon, a One-Two-GO Airlines plane had crashed on Phuket, Thailand, while attempting to land in rainy and stormy weather with 130 people on board (7 crew (earlier reports claimed 5 crew) + 123 passengers (including 78 foreigners)). According to the first reports, the visibility at Phuket International Airport was very poor while the plane approached the runway, and the crew had decided to make a go-around, but the plane lost balance and crashed on to the runway. (Some reports are suggesting that it landed, and then skidded off the runway.) It struck trees, broke in two, hit a wall, caught fire and burned, before proper rescue operations could begin.

Reports have been talking about 66, 74 and some already about 88 fatalities. There are at least 40 survivors, including 11 Thais, six Irish nationals, six Britons, three Australians, three Iranians, two Swedes, one German and a Dutch national. They have been taken to local hospitals, and five of them are said to be in critical conditions. According to a report by Bangkok Post: “Nearly half the passengers were foreign tourists,” said one survivor, Nong Khaonuan. In a TV interview, he said. “I’ve flown on many airplanes before and I can say there was something strange about our landing. We seemed to drop down too fast.” Other survivors said they escaped from emergency exits as the plane caught fire.

The plane took off from Bangkok Don Muang International Airport at 2:30 pm local time, and met with strong winds and heavy rain at the international airport of the Thai Resort island, Phuket.

The McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 has been in wide usage with One-Two-Go Airlines, the low-cost subsidiary of Orient Thai Airways, as they owned 7 of those. These aircraft were mostly flown around Thailand, including six each week from Bangkok to Phuket and return. Many budget airlines in Southeast-Asia use older planes that have been leased or purchased after years of use by other airlines. According to Thai and U.S. aviation registration data, the plane that crashed in Phuket was manufactured and first put into service in 1983, and began flying in Thailand in March this year.

by balint01