Thai authorities have confirmed that windshear was a probable key factor behind September's crash of a One-Two-Go Boeing MD-82 on the resort island of Phuket.
Chaisawat Kittipornpaiboon, permanent secretary for transport and head of a fact-finding committee investigating the accident, told reporters in Bangkok that data analysis has confirmed expectations that windshear was "the main culprit".
Investigations are continuing, but the state-run Thai News Agency quotes Chaisawat as saying the windshear determination was made after a thorough analysis of the flight-data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, as well as analysis of other data and circumstantial evidence based on interviews with witnesses.
Ninety of the 123 passengers and seven crew members on board the MD-82 died in the 16 September crash. The aircraft was operating a regular flight from Bangkok and skidded off the runway on landing in heavy rain.
Soon after the crash authorities revealed that pilots operating other aircraft into Phuket had reported windshear conditions shortly before the accident.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
