Thailand plane crash kills 90

PHUKET – Investigators searched yesterday through charred remains of a plane that crashed and killed 90 people – mostly foreigners – on Thailand’s resort island of Phuket, while an airline official said wind shear may have doomed the flight.

The budget One-Two-Go Airlines flight was carrying 123 passengers and seven crew from Bangkok to Phuket when it skidded off a runway Sunday while landing in driving wind and rain, catching fire and engulfing some passengers in flames as others kicked out windows to escape. Forty people were injured in the accident, Thailand’s worst air crash in a decade, and investigators have now recovered all the bodies from the wreckage.Investigators said they had recovered the plane’s two flight data recorders, known as ‘black boxes’, and hoped they would yield some answers about the accident in a few weeks.”We are still unable to say the cause of the accident,” Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen said.”The officials have found the black boxes and will send them for analysis to the United States.Hopefully, we will learn in a few weeks the cause of accident.”Kajit Habnanonda, president of Orient-Thai Airlines, which owns One-Two-Go, said wind shear – the rapid change in wind speed which can impact takeoffs and landings – was a possible cause of the accident.”It is possible that the plane crash was caused by wind shear,” Kajit said, adding that heavy rains could have contributed to the plane skidding off the runway.A One-Two-Go list of dead passengers obtained by The Associated Press included 54 foreigners and 36 Thais.Among them are four Americans, three Iranians as well as a French, British, Swedish and an Australian passenger.The Indonesian pilot and Thai co-pilot also were killed in the crash.Israel – which had 10 citizens on the flight – has sent medics and rescue personnel to help locate and identify any fatalities, according the Israeli rescue service, Magen David Adom.Dalad Tantiprasongchai, a business development manager with Orient-Thai Airlines, said the airliner would be providing 100 000 baht (US$3,125) initially to families of the dead for the funeral and other costs.Nampa-APForty people were injured in the accident, Thailand’s worst air crash in a decade, and investigators have now recovered all the bodies from the wreckage.Investigators said they had recovered the plane’s two flight data recorders, known as ‘black boxes’, and hoped they would yield some answers about the accident in a few weeks.”We are still unable to say the cause of the accident,” Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen said.”The officials have found the black boxes and will send them for analysis to the United States.Hopefully, we will learn in a few weeks the cause of accident.”Kajit Habnanonda, president of Orient-Thai Airlines, which owns One-Two-Go, said wind shear – the rapid change in wind speed which can impact takeoffs and landings – was a possible cause of the accident.”It is possible that the plane crash was caused by wind shear,” Kajit said, adding that heavy rains could have contributed to the plane skidding off the runway.A One-Two-Go list of dead passengers obtained by The Associated Press included 54 foreigners and 36 Thais.Among them are four Americans, three Iranians as well as a French, British, Swedish and an Australian passenger.The Indonesian pilot and Thai co-pilot also were killed in the crash.Israel – which had 10 citizens on the flight – has sent medics and rescue personnel to help locate and identify any fatalities, according the Israeli rescue service, Magen David Adom.Dalad Tantiprasongchai, a business development manager with Orient-Thai Airlines, said the airliner would be providing 100 000 baht (US$3,125) initially to families of the dead for the funeral and other costs.Nampa-AP