Aviation inspectors examine crash site to determine the cause of plane crash in Phuket

Inspectors from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand are examining the crash site of a propeller plane in Thalang district of Phuket to find the clues which may explain the cause of the plane crash on Saturday which killed the pilot and a passenger and left two other passengers seriously injured.

Mr Suchart Raksa-ngob, managing director of Phuket Air Park airport, said that the pilot, Mr Wattana Thinphang-nga, and Flying Officer Narin Thaveewat, a special lecturer at Thalang Technical College, brought about 30 aviation engineering students to the airport for a field trip.

Then the pilot conducted a flying demonstration with Narin and two students on board, he said, adding that the test was smooth until he learned afterward that the plane crashed in the woods in Tambon Pa Klog, about one kilometer from the air strip.

According to police report, the plane took off at 10.05 am on Saturday and, after about 20 minutes of flight, the pilot flew around the air strip apparently trying to land but could not due to strong wind. Then the pilot flew over the air strip for a second round before he made the landing, but the plane was struck by strong wind and nosedived toward the ground, the report added.

A witness who lives in the neighbourhood of the air strip, Ms Pitchayathida Pitchayodecha, said she saw the plane made a circular flight over the air strip, but did not take much attention to it until the plane came back again and, this time, she said she heard an unusually loud noise from the craft before it dived toward the ground.

However, initial investigating report said the pilot tried to land after the second flight around the air strip, but overshot the runway and tried to lift off again, which might have caused the accident.

Regarding the conditions of the two students, Dr Chalermpong Sukhonthapol, director of Wachira Phuket hospital, said that the two were still in the intensive care units, with one of them, Ardel Samae, in coma and awaiting to be operated on.

The other injured, Ms Orawan Chindarat, is suffering from internal bleeding in the stomach and awaiting to be operated on. However, doctors said her condition is stable.