THAILAND: RELATIVES OF VICTIMS OF THAI AIRWAYS CRASH ARRIVE AS RESCUES EFFORTS ARE HALTED

Record ID: 383400

  • Title: THAILAND: RELATIVES OF VICTIMS OF THAI AIRWAYS CRASH ARRIVE AS RESCUES EFFORTS ARE HALTED
  • Date: 13th December 1998
  • Summary: SURAT THANI, THAILAND (DECEMBER 13, 1998) (RTV) 1. SLV EXTERIOR OF HOSPITAL WHERE SURVIVORS WHERE TAKEN 0.04 2. SCU ANDREW SHARROCK, AUSTRALIAN SURVIVOR READING NEWSPAPER IN HOSPITAL BED 0.10 3. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHARROCK: "I certainly didn't have too much confidence in the pilot. I wasn't too comfortable. It was coming very fast in the wet and I think three attempts at landing was a bit too much and it might have had something to do with the plane as well because Air Buses are notorious for having problems." 0.35 4. MV/SCU ANDREW SHARROCK IN BED (2 SHOTS) 0.44 5. SLV WOMA SURVIVOR WALKING ALONG HOSPITAL CORRIDOR 0.53 7. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) PETER MCNAMEE, FATHER OF ANOTHER AUSTRALIAN SURVIVOR MELANIE MCNAMEE SAYING: "It takes a while to sink in that she's been this fortunate to survive. It's been a catastrophic event with so many people dying and so few surviving. It's quite amazing that anyone Survived and we are making plans to get her home soon. That's what I'm here for to take her home." 1.30 8. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) THAI TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER SUTHEP THAUGSUBAN SAYING: "We started the work since yesterday. The team which includes engineer, doctor and director of aviation and the general of the air force and I believe that they're doing fine work. We're quite happy." 2.11 9. SLV THAI SOLDIERS AT CRASH SITE 2.15 10. SLV PARTS OF WRECKAGE 2.19 11. SLV AIRBUS OFFICIALS AT CRASH SITE (2 SHOTS) 2.31 12. LAS HELICOPTER FLIES OVERHEAD / SCU PHOTOGRAPHER / CU TRAINING SHOE ON GROUND COVERED IN MUD / SLV INVESTIGATORS / LAS HELICOPTER FLIES BACK OVERHEAD (5 SHOTS) 2.58 BANGKOK, THAILAND (DECEMBER 13, 1998) (REUTERS) 13. COFFINS OF CRASH VICTIMS BEING UNLOADED AT BANGKOK AIRPORT 3.06 14. SLV THAI AIRWAYS PRESS CONFERENCE 3.33 15. (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) CHAIRMAN OF THAI INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS THAMNOON WANGLEE SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE "The kin of the dead will receive 100,000 U.S. dollars each as part of the international rule" 3.47 16. SCU MEDIA 3.51 17. SLV AIRCRAFT TAXIING ON TARMAC 3.55 18. SLV MORE SURVIVORS REMOVED FROM AIRCRAFT AND SURROUNDED BY RELATIVES AND MEDICAL STAFF / SLV AIRCRAFT ON TARMAC (4 SHOTS) 4.33 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 28th December 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SURAT THANI AND BANGKOK, THAILAND
  • Country: Thailand
  • Reuters ID: LVA5WKDB0MQDLCV8GW4EP3NDVW9S
  • Story Text: Relatives of foreigners who survived the Thai Airways
    crash have arrived in Thailand, and rescuers have halted
    rescue operations after finding 101 bodies.Forty-five of the
    146 passengers and crew aboard the Airbus A310-200 survived
    the crash, including 12 of the 25 foreigners on board.

    And Thai Airways International has said it would pay 100,000
    U.S.dollars in compensation to relatives of each person
    killed in the crash.

    Relatives of those who survived the Thai Airways crash
    arrived at a hospital in southern Surat Thani hospital on
    Sunday (December 13).Earlier in the day, rescue workers
    halted their operations after finding 101 bodies.

    Flight TG261 from Bangkok was making a third attempt at
    landing in the dark and driving rain at southern Surat Thani
    when it crashed into a swamp.The Airbus came down about three
    km (two miles) from Surat Thani airport.Survivors said the
    pilot had complained of poor visibility as he made his landing
    attempts.An air crash investigator said it was unclear why
    the pilot had been unable to follow landing aids into the
    airport.Airport officials said landing aids at Surat Thani
    were "operating perfectly".

    A Thai Airways official told Reuters in Bangkok that all
    three pilots on the plane had been killed, along with
    ninety-eight others.

    The foreign survivors included three Australians, three
    Japanese, three Germans, two Israelis and one Briton.Andrew
    Sharrock, one of the Australian survivors, described the final
    moments before the crash: "I wasn't too confident.It was
    coming very fast in the wet and I think three attempts at
    landing was a bit too much and it might have had something to
    do with the plane as well because air buses are notorious for
    having problems."
    Peter McNamee, father of another Australian survivor,
    Melanie McNamee, marvelled that his daughter was saved: "It
    takes a while to sink in that she's been this fortunate to
    survive.It's been a catastrophic event with so many people
    dying and so few surviving it's quite amazing that anyone
    survived and we are making plans to get her home soon.That's
    what I'm here for to take her home."
    A U.S.embassy spokesman in Bangkok said that two
    Americans had been confirmed dead, out of a total of five U.S
    citizens thought to have been killed.He identified them as
    Ken Houseman, whose next of kin was in Montana, and Helen
    Gromme of Wyoming.Thai Airways has yet to provide a breakdown
    of nationalities of the victims.Many of the foreign
    passengers had been heading for the popular nearby resort
    island of Koh Samui in the country's peak tourist season.

    The European Consortium Airbus Industrie said it was
    sending a team of experts from its headquarters in Toulouse,
    France, to help the crash inquiry.

    Thai Airways President Thamnoon Wangle said none of his
    fleet would be grounded during the investigation.Wangle also
    said that families for each of the victims would receive
    100,000 U.S.dollars compensation.

    Thamnoon said that for those injured in the crash, the
    airline would pay all medical expenses, and give them
    compensation of 5,600 U.S.dollars each.Any additional
    compensation would be decided on a case by case basis.

    And the bodies of some of those killed in the crash began
    to arrive at Bangkok airport late on Sunday.A plane also
    arrived carrying some passengers who had been injured in the
    crash.

    OS/OS/CAH















    312 :BC-THAILAND-PLANE-COMPENSATION Thai Airways to
    compensate kin of dead in crash
    BANGKOK, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Thai Airways International said
    on Sunday it would pay $100,000 in compensation to relatives
    of each person killed in Friday's crash of one of its planes
    in southern Thailand.

    "This is the standard international compensation payment,"
    its chairman Thamnoon Wanglee told a news conference.

    The Thai Airways Airbus A310-200 plane crashed in
    swampland near Surat Thani airport after making two failed
    attempts to land in heavy rain and was coming in for a third
    fatal approach.

    Police and hospital officials said 101 people were killed
    in the crash.There were 45 survivors, including 12 of the 25
    foreigners on board.

    The plane carrying 146 passengers and crew aboard was
    flying a domestic route from Bangkok to Surat Thani town which
    services tourists travelling to the nearby resort island of
    Koh Samui.

    Thamnoon said that for those injured in the crash, the
    airline would pay all medical expenses, and give them
    compensation of 200,000 baht ($5,600) each.Any additional
    compensation would be decided on a case by case basis.

    He declined to discuss the causes of the crash, saying it
    was premature to comment.Investigations would need to be
    carried out by a panel set up by the authorities.

    But he said he was concerned about the crash's impact on
    the airlines's image, especially because 1998 was the year of
    the Amazing Thailand campaign to draw tourists and it had
    happened just as the major 13th Asian Games was under way in
    Bangkok.

    "We are very worried about what has happened.That it
    would ruin the image of the airline and the country and we
    will try our best to repair our image," he added.

    He named three local insurance firms as the airline's
    insurers.They were Bangkok Insurance Plc, Dhipaya Insurance
    Plc and The Deves Insurance Plc.

    The firms had reinsured themselves in Europe, Japan and
    the United States, he added.
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