2007-9-23 08:02
Bangkok - The pilot of the One-Two-Go budget airline that crashed in Phuket a week ago, killing 89 people, issued a distress signal to the airport tower before skidding off the runway, news reports said Sunday.
"The chief pilot shouted 'mayday' repeatedly to ask for help until he lost contact with the control tower," Pornchai Ua-aree, director of Phuket International Airport, told the Bangkok Post.
Controllers also received information from the pilot that although the aircraft's wheels were out they had not touched the ground, Porchai said.
On September 16, One-Two-Go flight OG269 landed at Phuket International Airport, 640 kilometres south of Bangkok, during a tropical rain storm and skidded off the runway into an embankment where it broke in two and burst into flames.
The accident killed 89 people, including 53 foreigners and 36 Thais. There were 41 survivors, of whom 23 were still in hospital as of Sunday.
Thai aviation authorities have sent the plane's two black box flight recorders to the US to determine the cause of the crash, which should be announced within a week.
The tragedy has, inevitably, raised questions about the safety standards of budget airlines which have proliferated worldwide as well is Asia.
Meanwhile, One-Two-Go, a privately owned no-frills' airline that has operated for the past eight years without a major accident, reported another rough landing on Saturday at Had Yai Airport, about 700 kilometres south of Bangkok.
Although the pilot managed to control the plane, at least one passenger was bruised when an overhead air-conditioning panel fell on top of him upon landing, news reports said.
On Thursday, Thai AirAsia, another budget airline operating in Thailand, had to return to Bangkok for an emergency landing after the pilot noticed a mechanical problem. No one was injured in the incident.
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