Holiday flight involved in Thai runway crash
A passenger plane skidded off the runway and crashed into a building after landing on the Thai resort island of Samui on Tuesday, killing the chief pilot and injuring at least seven people including foreign tourists.
The Bangkok Airways flight landed in stormy weather and hit the airport’s old air traffic control tower, which had been converted into a fire station, said Kanikka Kemawutanond, director-general of the Department of Civil Aviation.
Almost half of the 72 people on board were hurt, though only six passengers and a co-pilot were taken to hospital.
Bangkok Airways confirmed two other Brits suffered minor injuries, alongside foreign nationals from Italy, Spain, Switzerland, France and Germany. Kanikka Kemawutanond, of the Department of Civil Aviation, said that the pilot was killed when the plane hit the unmanned control tower.
The aircraft was flying from Krabi, another popular resort area in southern Thailand. Ko Samui, located 298 miles (480 kilometers) south of Bangkok, is an island in the Gulf of Thailand popular with foreign tourists. The ATR72-500 twin-turboprop had 68 passengers, two pilots and two crew members on board.
Puttipong Prasartthong-Osoth, managing director of Bangkok Airways, said the chief pilot had 19 years of experience.