thailand plane crash

At least 61 people have been killed after a budget airliner crashed in Thailand.

Eight Britons are among 29 passengers who miraculously survived, according to an airport official.

Forty people are still missing after the plane burst into flames and broke into two in the resort of Phuket.

The plane was carrying 123 passengers, many of them European, and several crew members.

Flight OG 269, operated by airline One-Two-Go, was landing after flying from the capital Bangkok.

Both pilots survived the crash after the plane skidded off the runway in blistering winds and driving rain.

John, an Irish survivor, said it was clear there was a problem before the aircraft attempted to land.

"You could tell there was a problem. The plane was flying around trying to land. It was making some noises and it was bad rain," John told Thailand's ITV television channel.

"The plane was on fire, but I managed to get through. I might have come out on the wing," he said.

Nong Khaonual, a Thai who survived the crash with his wife, said the plane had landed too quickly.

"The airplane was landing in heavy rain. It landed too fast. I have never seen anything like this. It descended very fast," he told Nation Television in hospital.

"Just before we touched the runway we felt the plane try to lift up, and it skidded off the runway.

"My wife was half conscious and I dragged her out of the emergency exit. There was a man behind us and he was on fire."

Up to 90 people on board a passenger jet which crashed at Phuket airport in Thailand are feared dead - including many Europeans.

Rescuers carry a casualty awayBritish journalist Andrew Drummond told Sky News that while eight Britons had survived it is feared others were killed.

The Foreign Office said it is understood that some British nationals may be dead.

There were 130 passengers and crew on the plane when it ditched during an attempted landing in heavy rain.

Officials said 88 people had so far been confirmed dead and 42 injured.

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It is reported the One-Two-Go jet - owned by Orient Thai Airways - slid off the runway, its fuselage crumpled, and then burst into flames.

The airport has been temporarily closed.

Chaisak Angsuwan, director general of the Air Transport Authority of Thailand, said: "The visibility was poor as the pilot attempted to land.

Emergency workers at the scene"He decided to make a go-around but the plane lost balance and crashed. It was torn into two parts."

He added: "The first part of the plane is dug into the ground. The tail section is stuck on the runway."

Journalist Andrew Spooner, who works in Thailand, said: "There's quite a big market for budget airlines in Thailand and they've got a pretty good safety record.

"Thai standards for airlines are very, very high."

The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 plane - flight OG 269 - was travelling from Bangkok to Phuket, a popular tourist destination.

By Jackie Wong
PHUKET, Thailand (Reuters) - A budget airliner crashed while trying to land in driving rain on the Thai resort island of Phuket on Sunday, bursting into flames and killing at least 66 people, officials said.

Another 19 were unaccounted for.

Flight manifests at Phuket airport suggested well over half the 123 passengers and five crew on board were foreign. An Airports of Thailand official in Bangkok said most of the foreigners were European holidaymakers.

Eight Britons, seven Thais and two Australians were among 43 known survivors, hospital workers said.

"The plane looks as though it veered off the runway into the side of a hill," said Leslie Quahe, a Singaporean pastor who arrived at the scene about an hour after the crash.

"I was coming down the hill and saw smoke coming from the plane. It had broken into several parts," Quahe told Reuters.

Officials said the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 had broken in two on impact on landing on the Andaman Sea paradise isle, which was hit by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

"The first part of the plane is dug into the ground. The tail section is stuck on the runway," Chaisak Chai-arkad, a senior airport official in Bangkok, told Thai radio.

TV images showed the crumpled and smoking fuselage of the One-Two-Go flight from Bangkok surrounded by fire trucks and emergency workers. Part of the plane could be seen in trees alongside the runway.

Nong Khaonual, a Thai who survived the crash with his wife, said he believed the plane had descended too quickly.

"The airplane was landing in heavy rain. It landed too fast. I have never seen anything like this. It descended very fast," he told Nation Television in hospital.