Aviation

18.9, Phuket airport crash

Thailand: the pilot of the Thai airliner that crashed on the resort island of Phuket was warned of possibly dangerous wind conditions at the airport but decided to land anyway, according to a transcript of the conversation between the pilot and the control tower. The pilot and co-pilot were among the 89 people killed in the One-Two-Go crash, which took place during the landing attempt. An unofficial list compiled by the Thai Foreign Ministry showed that among the dead were six Britons, three Israelis, two Americans, two French nationals, and one victim each from Australia, Germany, Iran, Ireland and Sweden. However, the list is incomplete as more than 30 foreign fatalities had not yet been positively identified. Thai crash investigators, looking for clues into the cause of the plane’s crash on Phuket, have discovered wind detection systems on the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 plane were not working properly. The Department of Aviation investigators said that the pilot had put the landing gear down on approach to Phuket airport, but retracted it and tried to pull up. Investigators say three of six systems designed to detect a dangerous weather phenomenon known as wind shear were not working when the passenger jet crashed.