The lack of any remembrance for the victims of what was one of Thailand’s deadliest air disasters has been a tradition for local officials. AoT and its staff at Phuket airport have never held any service to remember the victims who died in the crash 17 years ago, on Sept 16, 2007. No service was held soon after the disaster, or even on the first anniversary.
This year, Monchai Tanode, General Manager at Phuket airport, on the anniversary of the deadly disaster yesterday commemorated World Ozone Day, and joined a meeting with members from the the Economic and Business Research Center at Siam Commercial Bank to assess in-depth macroeconomic research and impact analysis and exchange ideas on the trends of passenger growth at Phuket airport.
Mr Monchai also joined a ceremony to honour staff retiring from working at the airport, complete with bouquets for those about to depart their working life.
Again not remembered was that One-Two-Go Flight 269 crashed during an attempted go-around after an aborted landing amid heavy rain and strong crosswinds in near identical conditions to those affecting Phuket today.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 with 123 passengers and seven crew members on board was performing a scheduled Bangkok-Phuket flight (OG269).
The plane was scheduled to land at around 3:40pm but on the plane’s approach ground control denied landing and instructed the crew to execute a go-around. The plane crashed into one of the runway embankments and burst into flames.
A total of 89 of the 130 people on board died at the scene, while one survivor succumbed to burn injuries later in the hospital. In all, 40 others survived but received various injuries.
Those on board the flight included nationals of Thailand, UK, France, Australia, Canada and other countries.
Following damning reports over safety regulations, the budget airline One-Two-Go was subsequently shut down by its parent company Orient Thai, which ceased operations on Oct 9, 2018,
Local rescue worker Chukiat Ayuperm, head of the Thepkrasattri branch of the Kusoldharm Foundation Phuket and a volunteer with the Pitakkarn Foundation, earlier today posted his own remembrance of the devastating accident, including photos of local rescue workers at the scene.