Two black boxes of the budget airliner that crashed at Phuket
International Airport in southern Thailand on Sunday afternoon and
killed 90 persons have been found early Monday morning, media in
Bangkok reported.
Meanwhile, Thailand's Transport Permanent Secretary Chaiyasawat
Kitipornpaibool said on Monday that Phuket International Airport
would resume its operation on Monday evening, after the airport
closed temporarily on Sunday afternoon in the aftermath of the
crash.
Chaiyasawat also said the accident of the One-Two-Go aircraft
should not affect operations of other low-cost airlines.
The Orient Thai Airlines, parent company of the budget carrier
One-Two-Go, has bought insurance for its One-Two-Go aircraft for
US$300 million per each accident, according to Air Transport
Department Director-General Chaiyasak Angkhasuwan.
News network The Nation quoted Chaiyasak as saying that the
insurance policy covered third-party persons and Orient Thai
Airlines will initially pay 100,000 baht (US$2,941) to each victim
for funeral cost.
Initial reports said the plane was carrying 130 persons aboard,
including 123 passengers and seven crew. There were 79 foreigners
on board, including citizens from Australia, Austria, France,
Britain, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Authorities released the partial list of the victims -- 20 Thai
nationals by press time. The identification of the victims was not
completed. It is not yet confirmed either by authorities as to how
many foreigners were killed or survived the accident.
Airport administration officials said the two-engine airplane,
flight number OG 269, took off from the Bangkok's Don Muang airport
at 2:30 PM (0730GMT) on Sunday, and arrived at the airport around
3:40 PM on Sunday (0840 GMT).
After a failed landing attempt, the aircraft slid off the
runway, crashed into trees and an earth embankment on the side of
the airport before it broke into two sections and burst into
flame.
Rescue teams had found it difficult to retrieve bodies of the
victims from the plane's wreckage.
All flights in and out of the Phuket airport were canceled,
affecting some 1,000 passengers.
Investigation of the crash cause is still underway. Authorities
would not suspect the actual cause until the investigation
concluded, although initial reports had cited heavy rains and poor
visibility at the landing time as a suspected reason.
Phuket is an island located on the eastern coast of Indian Ocean
in southern Thailand and one of Southeast Asia's most popular
tourist destinations. Phuket has been under the spell of stormy
weather, common for the local rainy season, in latest days.
The One-Two-Go airline, a domestic subsidiary to Bangkok-based
Orient Thai Airways and Thailand's first low cost airline which
started operating no-frill flights in 2003, runs the Bangkok-Phuket
flights from Don Muang airport, once known as the Bangkok
International Airport, six times a week.
Sunday's tragedy is the first disaster reported for Thailand's
low-cost airline industry.
(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2007)
