one two go airlines

One-two-go crash landing in bad weather on Phuket

A one-two go airline jet crashed as it attempted to land in heavy rain and gushy winds on Phuket in the afternoon of September 16, 2007. The passenger number has not yet been confirmed, but officials say that 123 passengers were travelling on the short flight between Bangkok and Phuket, among them many foreigners. It is still unknown how many Scandinavians were on board the flight but two Swedish nationals were among the first to escape the burning jet.

Witnesses say that the plane touched down and then slipped on the wet runway into some trees. Shortly after that, there were two explosions and flames and the plane broke in two. Chaisak Angsuwan, director general of the Air Transport Authority of Thailand would not yet confirm how many were travelling and if there are casualties but said that he is expecting that there is.
Udom may have to rethink One-Two-Go strategies
Soon as he learnt about a crash of his One-Two-Go airline on Sunday, Udom Tantiprasongchai, founder and also chief executive officer of Orient Thai Airlines, came out to express his regret over the tragedy.

Udom
Speaking on television, he extended his condolences to the victims and their families and promised to take care of them. It was quite rare for Udom to come out in the public. For throughout most of his business life, he prefers to shun publicity.

Following the Thai government's implementation of an open sky policy, Udom began to set up his Orient Thai Airlines, a boutique airline company that sought to carve out its niche market.

Orient Thai Airlines relies on Bangkok as a hub, operating charter and scheduled services in Southeast Asia. Its main base is Don Muang International Airport.

Udom is known that closed to military people both in Thailand and Cambodia so that he can run the business well. He also has a regional outlook.

Yet it was off to a rocky start. The airline was formerly known as Cambodian International Airlines. Udom had close ties with the Cambodian authorities. With business problems, Orient Thai ceased scheduled operations on January 9, 1998. But it continues to operate charter services on behalf of Kampuchea Airlines.

However, scheduled operations have since been restarted. It is now wholly owned by private Thai shareholders and has 820 employees (at March 2007).

Three years ago, Udom came up an idea to set up a budget airline based in Bangkok. He eventually set up a wholly owned OneTwoGo Airlines as the proliferation of the budget airlines was fully in vogue. Orient Thai also has a 49 per cent stake in Kampuchea Airlines.

As of September 2007, the OneTwoGO Airlines fleet consists of aircraft 3 Boeing 747100, 1 Boeing 747200, 3 Boeing 747300, 6 McDonnell Douglas MD82 and 1 McDonnell Douglas MD83.

Udom has gone into the airline business because he forsees bright opportunities in the commercial aviation industry.

One Two Go was the first local low cost airline, started the operation between Bangkok to Chiang Mai in 2003. The airline operated as no frill airline ahead of Thai AirAsia.

However, it has not been as successful as Thai AirAsia.

A Phuket bound plane crashed at Phuket international airport amid heavy rain after flying from Bangkok on a budget flight. The aircraft is believed to be a MacDonnel Douglas MD 80 aircraft.

The airline is operating from Bangkok ( Don Mueang International Airport) base Bangkok ( Suvarnabhumi Airport) to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Hat Yai, Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phuket and Surat Thani.

Udom has also managed to penetrate into the charter flight and establish business contacts with other international airlines. Orient Thai Airlines was Asia's first international charter operator. Along with its subsidiary, Kampuchea Airlines, it provided services to other airlines including Finnair, Lufthansa, LTU and Merpati.

Udom's niche market was the business with the United Nations. Orient Thai Airlines transported refugees around the world for the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM), including returning people to Kosovo from Australia and helping Timorese return to East Timor in 1999 after it won its independence from Indonesia.

Orient Thai became a designated UN carrier, transporting troops for peacekeeping operations worldwide.

Orient Thai aircraft also fly Muslim Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for various clients, including Air India and the Saudi royal family. At the peak of its charter work Orient Thai Airlines' subsidiary operated eight Boeing 747s and seven McDonnell Douglas MD80s aircraft.

As of May 2007, Orient Thai Airlines operates scheduled passenger flights to the following destinations of China, Hong Kong, South Korea.

It is too early to say how Udom might want to restructure his OneToGo airline after the Phuket tragedy. To restore its name, the airline needs to disclose all the facts behind the crash and assure further safety measures.

A budget airline carrying foreign tourists crashed in heavy rain and broke into several pieces on the resort island of Phuket on Sunday, killing at least 56 of the 130 passengers and crew on board.

More bodies would probably be retrieved from the smoldering wreckage of Flight OG 269, an MD-82 operated by One-Two-GO, a Bangkok-based airline, officials said.

There were 43 confirmed survivors of the crash, Woratot Rattasima, the deputy governor of Phuket, said on Thai television.

The flight, which left the Don Muang airport at Bangkok at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, carried 123 passengers, two pilots and five crew, television reports said.

Kongkiat Katepetch, a doctor at Krung Thep Hospital in Phuket, said he had admitted 29 injured passengers, including 5 in serious condition. Eleven of the injured were Thai, 8 British, two Austrians, two Iranian and two Irish. There was also one Italian, one German and one Dutch passenger injured. Another remained unidentified.

Today in Asia - Pacific

Passenger plane crashes in heavy rain in south Thailand

Chinese leadership faces fresh challenges from Hong Kong and Taiwan

Yasuo Fukuda, a party elder, is likely to be next leader of Japan

The exact cause of the crash remained unclear Sunday evening but witnesses said that amid heavy wind and rain the plane had slid off the runway soon after touching down.

Chaowalert Jitjumnong, a survivor of the crash who was seated in row 22 said he heard no explosion.

"The plane slid and then crashed," Chaowalert said on the Thai television channel TITV. "It was dark and there was a lot of smoke."

Chaowalert said he crawled toward the light. "I slid out onto the wing," he said. "After I got out of the plane I saw fire."

The crash was the latest in a series of accidents involving low-cost airlines in Southeast Asia. Orient Thai airlines, an affiliate of One-Two-GO, has been warned about its safety procedures.

In March 2006, the South Korean Ministry of Construction and Transportation issued a warning to Orient Thai airlines and two other budget carriers for "frequent delays and substandard safety measures," according to the Korea Times newspaper.

The ministry said that Orient Thai, which operated flights from Inchon, South Korea, to Bangkok, had not updated its safety and operational manuals as required and that fire extinguishers and oxygen tanks were not in working condition.

"We ordered the carriers to improve the detected items," the Korea Times quoted an official saying.

The official also was quoted saying that the Korean government would urge the Thai government "to strengthen aviation safety."

In October 2004, a Boeing 747-200 operated by Orient Thai came within 200 meters, or 660 feet, of the Tokyo Tower while making its final approach to the city's Haneda Airport, the Mainichi Shimbun reported.

Mainichi quoted Orient Thai as saying the plane's captain had failed to give proper instructions to his crew on landing procedures at Haneda.

In Phuket on Sunday, officials praised emergency workers for responding quickly to the crash. Rescue teams had carried out a drill Sept. 6 involving a burning aircraft.

Pornnapa Wongakanit contributed reporting from Bangkok.