Bangkok Airways crashes at Koh Samui; Pilot killed, 41 injured

SURAT THANI, Aug 4 (TNA) – A pilot was killed and 41 passengers were injured, seven critically, when a commercial aircraft skidded off a runway and crashed into the air traffic control tower at the airport on the popular resort island of Samui in Thailand’s southern province of Surat Thani.
  
The Bangkok Airways flight PG266 from Krabi to Samui carried 68 passengers and four crew members when it touched down in heavy rain, said Mrs Kannika Khemawuthanont, Director-General of Thailand’s Civil Aviation Department.
 
The senior aviation official confirmed the captain of the ATR72 twin-turboprop had died in the crash.

Pol Maj Sayan Sartsri of Bor Pud police station said the captain was later identified as Mr Chartchai Pansuwan. 
The forward section of the plane was heavily damaged. 

Initial investigation suggested that a heavy rainstorm at the time of accident is likely to have affected the landing.
 
Doctor Natthawut Prasersiripong, chief of Surat Thani provincial health office, said 41 passengers were injured, including eight foreigners. Among those seven were seriously injured. They are now being treated in five hospitals in the province.

The nationalities of those on board were British, French, German, Israeli, Italian, Spanish and Swiss, according to Bangkok Airways president Putthipong Prasarttong-osoth.

The civil aviation department chief said the Samui airport runway was temporarily closed after the accident.

Sea shuttles are ferrying tourists stranded air passengers to the mainland to relieve the backlog of travellers attempting to leave Koh Samui after aviation authorities closed the airport. Land transport to Surat Thani airport was being provided for onward travel. (TNA)