Phuket crash probe advances

Wind shear definitely contributed to the crash of the One-Two-Go Airlines plane last month at Phuket, in which 90 people died, a senior transport official said Friday. But he said investigations were still under way.

Transport Ministry permanent secretary Chaisawat Kittipornpaiboon said results from an examination of the flight voice and data recorders from One-Two-Go flight OG 269 had shown that sudden strong winds were partly responsible for the deadly accident on September 16.

"But the black box didn't say the cause was only wind shear," Chaisawat told a press conference. He said authorities would need more time to analyse the data and other evidence before announcing their final conclusion on the cause of the crash.

An examination of the so-called black boxes was conducted in the US.

The McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 plane skidded off the runway after landing at Phuket Airport, 640 kilometres south of Bangkok, and crashed into an embarkment, splitting in two and bursting into flames.

Altogether 90 people died in the accident and about 40 were injured. (dpa)