Fatal plane crash at Koh Samui airport
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A Bangkok Airways plane crashed on landing at Koh Samui airport yesterday, killing one person and injuring six others - four of them seriously. The ATR-72 500 series aircraft was carrying 68 passengers, two pilots and two flight attendants from Krabi when the accident occurred. Flight PG0266 veered off the runway and collided with the disused control tower during the attempt to land at Samui Airport. Bad weather and possible cross winds are thought to have played a role.
Bangkok Airways confirmed last night that one of the pilots had died, and that the six injured passengers were being treated in hospital. The airline also confirmed that it an investigation team from Thailand’s Department of Aviation has been sent to the accident site.
The Samui crash is the latest in a series of deadly disasters for the aviation industry. This is the sixth fatal crash since 1 June, and questions must surely be raised about the reasons behind the recent surge in accidents.
2009 - Timeline of disaster
15 January: US Airways A320 is struck by birds, forcing an emergency landing in the Hudson River (0 fatalities).
12 February: Colgan Air Bombardier Dash commuter service crashed near Buffalo, New York (49 fatalities).
25 February: Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 crashes at Amsterdam Schipol airport (9 fatalities).
09 March: Aerolift Ilyushin plane crashes into Lake Victoria, Uganda (11 fatalities).
22 March: Eagle Cap Leasing Pilatus plane crashes in Butte, Montana (14 fatalities).
23 March: FedEx McDonell Douglas cargo plane crashes at Tokyo’s Narita airport (2 fatalities).
01 June: Air France A330 crashes over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Brazil (228 fatalities).
30 June: Yemenia Airways A310 crashes near the Comoros Island (153 fatalities).
15 July: Caspian Airlines Tupolev jet crashes into fields in northern Iran (168 fatalities).
24 July: Aria Airlines Ilyushin plane skids off the runway at Mashhad airport, Iran (17 fatalities).
02 August: Merpati Nusantara Airlines plane goes missing in remote jungle of western Indonesia (16 assumed fatalities).
04 August: Bangkok Airways ATR jet skids off runway and hits control tower at Koh Samui airport (1 confirmed fatality).
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