Thai Airways International Flight 261
HS-TIC, sister-ship of the accident aircraft | |
Accident summary | |
---|---|
Date | 11 December 1998 |
Summary | Probable spatial disorientation in stormy weather |
Site | 0.7 km S of Surat Thani Airport (URT) (Thailand) |
Passengers | 132 |
Crew | 14 |
Fatalities | 101 |
Injuries (non-fatal) | 45 |
Survivors | 45 |
Aircraft type | Airbus A310-204 |
Aircraft name | Phitsanulok |
Operator | Thai Airways International |
Registration | HS-TIA |
Flight origin | Don Mueang International Airport (BKK/VTBD) |
Destination | Surat Thani Airport (URT/VTSB) |
Thai Airways International Flight 261 was a scheduled passenger flight from Bangkok, Thailand to Surat Thani, Thailand. On 11 December 1998, the flight was being flown by an Airbus Airbus A310-204, registration HS-TIA.
Thai Flight 261, carrying 146 people, took off from Don Mueang International Airport at 17:54 local time on a one-hour flight to Surat Thani. When the aircraft began to descend to Surat Thani Airport, the weather was bad with heavy rain and poor visibility, and the pilot executed a missed approach two times.[1] On a third attempt to land, the aircraft stalled and crashed 0.7 km south of the airport at 19:08, killing 101 people (including both pilots) and injuring 45 people.[1] Ninety passengers and 11 crew members died.[2] The probable cause of the crash was determined to be "spatial disorientation when the nose pitched up sharply during a night time approach in stormy weather".
The accident remains (Mar 2015) the second-deadliest in Thailand, behind Lauda Air Flight 004.
Aircraft
HS-TIA was an Airbus A310-204, c/n 415, previously registered as F-WWBI for flight testing with Airbus. Given the name Phitsanulok, HS-TIA was first flown on 3 March 1986 and delivered to Thai Airways at Don Mueang on 29 April 1986.
In popular culture
- Modernine TV discussed Thai Airways International Flight 261 on TimeLine, 30 May 2016, in "Flight 261 Disaster".[3]
References
- 1 2 "Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network (ASN). Retrieved 30 May 2016.
- ↑ Fatal Events Since 1970 for Thai Airways and Thai Airways International
- ↑ ข่าวดังข้ามเวลา : หายนะ..เที่ยวบิน 261 (30 พ.ค.2559)
External links
Coordinates: 9°07′39″N 99°8′26″E / 9.12750°N 99.14056°E