Human remains have been found at the crash site of a small plane in a mangrove swamp in Bang Pa Kong district of Chachoengsao. The search continued into last night and resumed today.
An earthen embankment was built around the crash site, where parts of the small plane were found, as two backhoes were used to dig a hole about 8 metres wide and about 10 metres deep in search of the main wreckage of the fuselage and the remains of the seven passengers and two pilots.
The search was suspended at about 2am this morning. Parts of the aircraft and human remains have been sent to Khao Din Tambon Administrative Organisation’s head office for safe keeping, before the human remains are sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification today.
Chachoengsao Governor Cholatee Youngtrong said, last night, that the search team expects to find the rest of the nine people today.
Local officials said that all the seven passengers, five Chinese nationals and two Thais, and the two pilots are believed to have been killed in the crash.
The ill-fated plane, a Cessna Caravan C208 belonging to the Thai Flying Service Company, left Suvarnabhumi international airport at 2.46pm yesterday heading for Mai Chee Island in Trat province.
About 10 minutes after take-off, the control tower at the Suvarnabhumi airport lost contact with the plane. The last position of the plane, reported at 2.57pm, was 18.7 nautical miles southeast of the airport.
At about 3.10pm, the radio control centre reported that it had received a call from the captain at 2.50pm, stating that there was something wrong with the plane and contact was then lost.
