PHUKET plane crash survivor Robert Borland today welcomed the partial release of the official report into the One-Two-Go disaster, which blamed pilot error and bad weather.
''It's good to know that the investigation has been completed,'' said Mr Borland, who lives and works on Phuket. ''It brings closure of sorts.''
Mr Borland was one of 40 survivors of the crash on September 16 last year. Ninety passengers and crew were killed.
Phuketwan spoke directly with Aviation Department director-general Chaisak Angkasuwan who quoted the report as saying that the crash of Flight 269 from Bangkok should be attributed to the failure of the pilot and co-pilot.
They did not follow proper safety measures, he said.
Khun Chaisak said the wreckage of the plane, an MD-82, had been thoroughly checked and mechanic problems were not a factor.
''The stormy weather made the plane difficult to control,'' he said. ''But the pilots did not follow the correct procedure.''
More information from the official report would be made public around the middle of next month, he said.
The delay in releasing the information was because double-checking was necessary, he said.
Another Phuket survivor of the crash, Paiboon Papan, told Phuketwan that the weather certainly added to the circumstances of the tragedy.
Khun Paiboon, who went back into the burning aircraft to drag Robert Borland to safety, said he thought the blame for the tragedy would probably eventually extend beyond the pilots.
September 16 marks the first anniversary of the crash. Why the release of the report has taken so long is a mystery.
It is pure speculation, but it is possible that the calamitous crash of an MD-82 on takeoff in Madrid only days ago made it essential for Thai authorities to give the all-clear to the One-Two-Go aircraft.
The Indonesian pilot and his Thai co-pilot did not survive Flight 269. A Phuket storm was raging at the time, with windshear initially blamed for driving the aircraft into the tarmac.
Law suits by some survivors and relatives of the victims are being undertaken in the US and Britain.
The General Manager of Phuket International Airport, Wicha Nurnlop, told Phuketwan that he was aware of the partial release of the report but not at liberty to comment.
Questions are now bound to be asked about the level of training that the pilots received.
One report from the sister of an American victim claims that the black box transcript of the cockpit conversation points towards the pilot freezing at the controls at the critical moment.
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''It's good to know that the investigation has been completed,'' said Mr Borland, who lives and works on Phuket. ''It brings closure of sorts.''
Mr Borland was one of 40 survivors of the crash on September 16 last year. Ninety passengers and crew were killed.
Phuketwan spoke directly with Aviation Department director-general Chaisak Angkasuwan who quoted the report as saying that the crash of Flight 269 from Bangkok should be attributed to the failure of the pilot and co-pilot.
They did not follow proper safety measures, he said.
Khun Chaisak said the wreckage of the plane, an MD-82, had been thoroughly checked and mechanic problems were not a factor.
''The stormy weather made the plane difficult to control,'' he said. ''But the pilots did not follow the correct procedure.''
More information from the official report would be made public around the middle of next month, he said.
The delay in releasing the information was because double-checking was necessary, he said.
Another Phuket survivor of the crash, Paiboon Papan, told Phuketwan that the weather certainly added to the circumstances of the tragedy.
Khun Paiboon, who went back into the burning aircraft to drag Robert Borland to safety, said he thought the blame for the tragedy would probably eventually extend beyond the pilots.
September 16 marks the first anniversary of the crash. Why the release of the report has taken so long is a mystery.
It is pure speculation, but it is possible that the calamitous crash of an MD-82 on takeoff in Madrid only days ago made it essential for Thai authorities to give the all-clear to the One-Two-Go aircraft.
The Indonesian pilot and his Thai co-pilot did not survive Flight 269. A Phuket storm was raging at the time, with windshear initially blamed for driving the aircraft into the tarmac.
Law suits by some survivors and relatives of the victims are being undertaken in the US and Britain.
The General Manager of Phuket International Airport, Wicha Nurnlop, told Phuketwan that he was aware of the partial release of the report but not at liberty to comment.
Questions are now bound to be asked about the level of training that the pilots received.
One report from the sister of an American victim claims that the black box transcript of the cockpit conversation points towards the pilot freezing at the controls at the critical moment.
Related Articles:
DCA Report Lashes One-Two-Go Safety Standards
The Director General of Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation has delivered a strongly critical report following the department's investigation of the One Two Go airline and its parent, Orient Thai.
DCA Report Lashes One-Two-Go Safety Standards
Law Suits Fly As Experts Dither
The crash of One Two Go Flight 269 disturbed a peaceful Phuket Sunday in 2007, just as the tsunami had done a few years previously. Now the tragedy seems destined for extensive international court action in search of justice and the truth.
Law Suits Fly As Experts Dither
I Am Flying Again: Phuket Plane Crash Survivor
A Superman suit and a decompression chamber help a Phuket plane crash victim to fly again. But Robert Borland still wants the answer to one important question: why?
I Am Flying Again: Phuket Plane Crash Survivor
