Investigate Thailand's Udom Tantiprasongchai.

Inquest Findings: "Flagrant Disregard for Passenger Safety"

Statements From the Judge:

• "There is no question in my mind that the catalog of systemic failures that I have outlined contributed in no small part to the horrific consequences of the air crash on 16 September 2007."
• "The primary failure so far as I am concerned relates to the corporate culture which prevailed both prior to and following the air crash"
• "The evidence highlights systemic failures and a highly deficient safety culture at both [One-Two-Go Airlines and Orient Thai Airlines] airlines."
• "Further the Company [One-Two-Go Airlines and Orient Thai Airlines] falsified records in a clear attempt to mislead the Authorities who were investigating the circumstances surrounding this tragic air crash."
• "It would be far too simplistic to place all of the responsibility upon the shoulders of the air crew."
• "It seems to me that all Airlines should place passenger safety as a matter of the very highest priority. Clearly this was not the case with One-Two-Go Airlines."
• "These facts are not consistent with a verdict of accidental death."
• "[I]f I had powers to enforce the attendance of those two Chief Executive Officers [Udom Tantiprasongchai] I would have summonsed them to give evidence and account to you the families for the lack of safety culture that prevailed at One-Two-Go"

Update June 3, 2011 Download the Inquest Findings including letters to the European Commision Air Safety, British Secretary for Transport and Associate of British Travelers expressing concerns for furture travelers safety on Thailand's Orient Thai and One-Two-Go Airlines.

Update March 22, 2011 Download a summary of the findings and a Witness Statement for the British Coroner's Inquest.

Flying While Corrupt

1. Ordering the Coverup: Orient Thai/One-Two-Go COO copies Udom Tantiprasongchai (the CEO) on this email to the flight scheduler detailing the falsification of the pilots' work hour records.
2. Roster Fraud: This spreadsheet with false work hours was submitted to the NTSB, the "ghost" writers of the crash report for the Thai government.
3. Thai CAA admits to receiving fraudulent hours: The Deputy Director General of the Thai CAA acknowledges the receipt of false paperwork and vastly excessive flight hours. No action was taken against the airline or management for the fraud, nor was the NTSB informed of the fraud (until we did).
4. Illegally Excessive Work Hours: These are the actual scheduled hours for Captain Arief and First Officer Montri during August and September. They show scheduled flight hours vastly in excess of the ICAO maximums of 100 work hours and Thai maximums of 110 hours per 30 days. After the crash of OG269 in September, excessive pilot work hours continued as shown by this December company rpster.
5. Orient Thai/One-Two-Go Checkride Fraud: The Captain was on leave. He is not paid for the month. Yet he approved the checkrides of 4 pilots,Natsir, Purwanic, Hendrarto, and Haryanto.
6. Temporary Grounding: Thailand's Civil Aviation Department temporarily revoked One-Two-Go's AOC July 21, 2008 - December 5, 2008 for grossly unsafe business practices.
7. International Flight With Passengers Without an AOC: As shown here on October 11, 2008 One-Two-Go flew Hong Kong to Bangkok without an AOC regularly.
8. No Change in Airline Management or Oversight Authority: Udom Tantiprasongchai and Cho Ting Tsang remain in operational control of Orient Thai and One-Two-Go. Thai Civil Aviation Authorities, Director General Chaisek amd Deputy Director General Vuttichai remain in their aviation oversight and investigatory positions in Thailand.

Update Jan 08 2011: Here is the Thai version of the crash report, including some of the NTSB material and ending with suggested edits from the NTSB.

The Thai version of the crash report confirms that Arief and Montri were vastly over legal working hours and confirms the substance of the material initially reported here that neither pilot was flying the plane 16 of the last 19 seconds of flight, until stopped by impact with the embankment.

This report also makes an attempt to claim the rescue was adequate by stating the *capacity* of the fire trucks, but a witness report (a airport mechanic) included in the report clearly states that only 1 of the trucks was spraying fire suppressant on the burning aircraft. Additionally, since Phuket airport was beneath regulated standards that day - at least - the tower is required to alert incoming aircraft of the reduced safety equipment. The transcript of the communications between the tower and OG269 informs us that no such warning was given.

Furthermore, the report includes the ICAO provided information of fraudulent check rides by Orient Thai pilots in the months after the crash of OG269. The report makes no mention of the pilot work schedule information provided to the investigators and available at this website that show Orient Thai pilots continuing to work vastly in excess of the legal limits well after the crash of OG269.

The "author" of the report is Vutichai Singhamany, Director General of the Thai Civil Aviation Authority. Vutichai is the guy who takes the bribes from Udom (a.k.a. wins golf games and gets all expense paid trips to Spain). He's also the guy you can see being *surprised* by the fraudulent roster data on the Australian expose. But then we all watched as Vutichai kept those records from the investigators and the public.

Previously: The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) conducted an investigation and wrote a report for the Thai Government. Accessed via a Freedom of Information Act request, the NTSB report is posted here. The NTSB determined that wind shear DID NOT cause the crash. They found the flight crew was untrained and unskilled. They found that no one was flying the aircraft at the time it struck an embankment on the side of the runway. Further, they found the flight crew was vastly over flying time limits for the week and for the month. These are some of the systemic causes of the crash. Another way of looking at the cause is indifference to human life and suffering and hubris.

One fact NTSB did not document was the fraudulent flight data NTSB received from the Thai government and Orient Thai. We already knew the flight hours were fraudulent from watching the Australian expose and seeing the head of the Thai government's aviation department agree. With a bit of help from friends, we were able to obtain the true flight hours and provide them to NTSB. This information changed the course of the investigation for NTSB and makes clear the deliberate duplicity of the Thai government and Udom Tantiprasongchai, the CEO of Orient Thai/One-Two-Go Airlines.

For nearly a year after the crash nothing at Orient Thai changed. Udom continued fly aircraft with pilots who falsified their check ride certificates; pilots who were flying hours beyond the legal limits; and pilots who were inadequately trained and supervised. Eventually, the US Federal Aviation Authority insisted some penalty and retraining be applied. Thailand temporarily revoked Orient Thai's One-Two-Go Aircraft Operating Certificate. The "retraining" included senior members of the Thai government and was conducted in exotic Spain rather than local Hong Kong. During the final month without an Aircraft Operating Certificate, Orient Thai's One-Two-Go resumed flying passengers internationally. You or someone you know may have been on their aircraft while officially grounded by the Thai government!

More recently, the Thai Government gave Udom Tantiprasongchai yet another Aircraft Operating Certificate for yet another budget airline called Thai Air. Unfortunately, one must wonder if the name isn't an attempt to confuse the budget-conscious tourist into believing he has booked a cheap flight on the trusted, higher quality airline named Thai Airways.

Thank you for your support over these years. Safe travels.

Here is what I have very painfully learned: If a country doesn't have a free press then don't rely on its infrastructure; these include airlines, trains, security, police or hospitals.

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See the NTSB crash report and other NTSB materials: NTSB material

Learn more: Summary & Stacks of Evidence

Press Release from the Jones and Collins families

See the Petition

See Congressman Frank's letter to Secretaries Clinton and LaHood