From
The Nation:
A source at the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (Aerothai), which oversees air traffic control in the country, said the traffic controllers at Phuket International Airport had informed the pilot about the bad weather conditions.
"The final decision on whether to land was made by the pilot, we only gave him the conditions," said the source who asked not to be named.
According to the source, besides the heavy rain and bad visibility, there was 30-knot crosswind at the airport at the very moment the plane attempted to landing.
"It was a very strong crosswind. The pilot should not have landed," said the source.
The bad weather conditions in Phuket on Sunday were confirmed by the Meteorological Department. Chamnong Jitphakdee, director of southern meteorological office, who said that Phuket was affected by severe storms around 3pm and he had to update the traffic control tower every 30 minutes.
Chaisak, who is also chairman of Aerothai, reckoned the pilot of OG 269 might have thought the landing would not a problem as another aircraft, also belonging to Orient Thai airlines, had landed just minutes before.
Chaisak said he was informed the OG 269 pilot had tried to land twice.
On the second attempt, he said, the pilot again informed air traffic control that he would go round again.
"It happened very fast. Just minutes after he talked to the traffic controllers, the plane crashed as it lost balance and the fuselage tilted to the right," said Chaisak, adding that the landing gear "was not down" when it crashed heavily on the runway.
However, some passengers said the landing gear was lowered to prepare for landing because the plane had skidded off the runway. Some witnesses said they heard a series of explosions before the plane crashed.
Chaisak admitted that he heard a conversation between the pilot and air traffic controllers which was recorded by air traffic controllers. However, he hadn't released the recording, saying there was "nothing special" about the conversation.
"It was just normal conversation that every pilot has when talking to air traffic controllers before landing," he said.
Udom Tantiprasongchai, founder and chairman of Orient Thai Airlines, which own One-Two-Go, said it was too early to point the finger at the pilot.
"He is chief of the One-Two-Go's pilots with long term experience flying passenger planes," he said referred to the Indonesian pilot "Ariff", as many Indonesians use only one name.
Udom said all parties should wait for the results of the black boxes.
"I've heard someone questions about why we use an Indonesian pilot. I beg you all not to focus on the nationality of any pilot. The most important thing is their skill and experience," he said.
Ariff, an experienced passenger pilot with several Indonesian airlines, had reportedly worked with One-Two-go for almost three years and had flown to Phuket many times, said Udom.
A source from Aerothai said all air traffic controllers stationed at Phuket airport when the crash took place have been temporarily moved to ground staff positions.
"From the control tower they saw everything and broke into tears the moment the plane crashed," said the source.
Kanit Phromsatit, a pilot with THAI Airways, said the judgement of a pilot when landing in bad weather condition was crucial and admitted that Phuket Airport was a difficult place to land being encircled by mountains.
"The plane had been is use for 12 years. Normally, any plane should have at least 15 years good service," he said.