Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Rescue Teams Search for Missing Plane in Slopy, Mountainous Jungle

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen arrives at Kampot June 26, 2007, where search teams had gathered to look for a plane which went missing one day earlier. An aircraft carrying 13 South Koreans, three Czechs and four crew from Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temples crashed on Monday in jungle-clad mountains in the coastal province of Kampot, officials said. There was no word on survivors. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

A man holds his child in the forest of Cambodia's Kampot Province June 26, 2007, the area where military officials have been searching for an plane which vanished from radar one day earlier An aircraft carrying 13 South Koreans, three Czechs and four crew from Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temples crashed on Monday in jungle-clad mountains in the coastal province of Kampot, officials said. There was no word on survivors. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
26/06/2007


The search for a missing commuter plane and its 22 passengers continued Tuesday, through the rain-soaked jungles and mountains of Kampot province where witnesses said it may have crashed.

Prime Minister Hun Sen offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to a crash site and urged the US and Korean embassies to redirect their satellites to help the search. He called on mountain villagers to help in the search but said there was "little hope" anyone had survived.

RCAF Commander-in-Chief Gen. Ke Kim Yan told journalists in Kampot that the Cambodian government was deploying four helicopters and about 1,000 troops to search for the crash site. Rain was slowing down efforts, he said.

The search was focused on the mountainous "100 Boa Constrictors" region of Kampot province, known locally for its high number of serpents and rumored man-eating tigers.

Aviation officials said the plane disappeared from radar in heavy rain five minutes before landing in the coastal town of Sihanoukville Monday morning.

The Russian AN-24 prop plane went missing en route from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville, where a new international airport opened in January. The flight was operated by Phnom Penh-based carrier Progress Multitrade, or PMT, which has a slipshod safety record and is banned for use by UN personnel, the Cambodia Daily reported.

On board were five Cambodian crew and a tour group of 13 South Koreans, as well as three Czechs and a Russian, aviation officials said.

Family members of the missing South Koreans were expected to arrive in Phnom Penh Tuesday evening, an embassy official said.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the aftermath of major violation of air safety, the PMT has egregiously perpetrated hedious crime against its passengers, and therefore, I'm undoubtedly certain that the relatives of the deceased will sumon their attorneys for ligitation against the PMT airlines to make certain that all the ill-fated passengers be endentified, and and to ensure that this airline will be put in the holding pattern until the investigation is complete.

Further, the Cambodian government should make certain that this airline is not become airborne until the airline meets all the domestic air safety requirements.

Where the hell was the ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter), which will transmit the signal in the event of the crash. Also, I highly doubted that this particular aircraft has black boxes (on the tail), one records the voice of the pilots, and the other records aircraft instruments.

On behalf of all Cambodians and other nationals, please do not gamble your life with the AN-24 airplane. This particular aircraft does not have the capability to handle the mereological conditions that it was encountered during the storm.

Also, what happen to the Cambodian NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board), after the authorities learned of the crash, or the Cambodian government simply does not have NTSB?

Please do not gamble your life with the air safety.

Khmer-American airline pilot

Anonymous said...

Ah Hun Sen is ah psychopath