Families of victims of Phuket air crash petition US authorities for 'independent' inquiry into causes

Families of people killed in the Phuket air crash have been lobbying America's National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to conduct a full inquiry into the Phuket air crash, requesting they treat the crash as though it occurred on US soil.

Relatives of crash victims claim the probe into the crash by Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) is a virtual whitewash and the DCA has failed to act on numerous complaints and allegations about regulation breaches and controversial work practices at Orient Thai Airlines and One-Two-Go.

A documentary aired on Australian TV last year showed pilots claiming they had been paid cash to fly additional hours over legal limits. This was strongly denied by Orient Thai and One-Two-Go chief Udom Tantisprasong-chai.

Allegations

But families of the 90 who died in flight OG269 on Sept 16 appear to be unconvinced. Some claim the crash was caused not just by poor pilot decision-making in bad weather, but work practices at the airline and a failure of oversight by the DCA.

Relatives of the deceased and former Orient Thai pilots are among more than 4,800 people who have signed an Internet petition started by Bonnie Rind, the sister of one American victim, which is calling for a more thorough probe and accountability for the underlying causes of the crash.

Ms Rind has posted a transcript of the pilots' final dialogue from the black box recovered from OG269 at www.InvestigateUdom.com. She claims the NTSB has found the crash was caused by "flight crew error".

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is currently doing an IASA review of Thailand's oversight of civil aviation standards, which, in turn, determines a country's rights to fly in the US.

Ms Rind has sent many documents related to the Phuket crash and Orient Thai Airlines to the FAA. 

A negative assessment of the Thai DCA and its probe into the Phuket crash could have major ramifications for Thai Airways' access to the US, she claims.