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A memorial of sorts: The Sky Dive Reef now lies off Bang Tao beach

The Day a Flight Vanished at Sea Off Phuket

Tuesday, June 2, 2009
THE CRASH of One-Two-Go Flight OG269 on Phuket in 2007 came almost exactly 20 years after the crash at sea off Phuket of a Thai Airways jet, involving the deaths of all 83 people on board.

Reports of the earlier crash were discovered by a Phuketwan journalist researching the more recent disaster.

Poignantly, the information comes to light at a time of worldwide concern about an Air France flight missing over the Atlantic.

A New York Times article carried an AP account of what took place near Phuket on September 1, 1987:

''A Thai Airways jet on a domestic flight plunged into the sea near Phuket Island today, and officials said they believed all 83 people aboard were killed.

''Two Americans were said to be among the 37 foreigners on the plane, a Boeing 737.

''Spokesmen said 17 bodies were recovered before search operations halted for the night because of high winds and poor visibility. Meteorologists said skies were clear when the crash occurred.''

The Thai plane was reported by Thai authorities to be trying to evade a 737 belonging to the Hong Kong-based line, Dragonair, as both planes were approaching the airport.

But in a statement from Hong Kong, Dragon Airlines Ltd. officials said they had spoken to the captain of their aircraft and were ''assured that the Dragonair aircraft was not involved.''

The crashed plane carried nine crew members, 35 Thai passengers, and two children accompanying adults. The foreign passengers were 30 Malaysians, two Americans, two Japanese and three Europeans.

In later reports, the cause of the crash remains unclear, but Thai Airways dropped the claim that the pilot had veered off course to avoid hitting a second aircraft.

Phuket divers say the nosediving plane crashed into the sea about 15 kilometres out from Phuket airport and broke up.

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Comments

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I have also seen sketchy reports from the mid-1980s of a TG flight that crashed into a mountain in Thai Muang while on approach to Phuket. Does anyone have any information on that, such as crash site location and casualty figures?

Posted by James Litorice on June 3, 2009 12:25

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There was a Thai Airways crash in April 1985 that killed 11 passengers and crew. Found a site that describes the crash as follows:

Four minutes after receiving clearance to descend to 3000 feet, the pilot reported he wasn't receiving the DME signal. At 23:24 Phuket ATC asked if the crew preferred a VOR approach to runway 09 instead of a visual runway 27 approach. The approach to runway 27 was continued, until the crew radioed that they had lost both engines, while passing 3400 feet and that they nearly hit a mountain. The aircraft eventually crashed into a mountain at 800 feet.

Website is: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19850415-1

Posted by Flier on June 3, 2009 13:02


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