Crash victim’s family arrive in Thailand

THE family of plane crash victim Aaron Toland arrived in Thailand yesterday to begin the process of bringing his body home.

Last night, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it would take some days to sort out the necessary paper work before his body would be released. Mr Toland, 23, was from Derry and was the only Irish person killed in Sunday’s plane crash at Phuket Airport.

The Irish consulate met with his family yesterday and is providing support on the ground.

There were 130 people on board when the “One-Two-Go” plane went down. Eighty-nine were killed.

Mr Toland’s friend Christopher Cooley was among those visited in hospital by Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont.

Mr Chulanont described the Irish man as a hero for his efforts, along with those of another passenger, to save the lives of two rows of people sitting near them. Mr Cooley was able to help pull people from the plane.

Two other Irish survivors, John O’Donnell from Liscannor, Co Clare, and William Burke from Nenagh, Co Tipperary, are still in hospital but are listed as stable.

Local media have begun questioning the safety of the low-cost fleet of planes serving Thailand’s internal routes in the aftermath of the crash. This is due to the standards of maintenance of the planes and quality of training provided to the pilots.

The investigation team has focused on the actions of the pilot of the MD82 aircraft in the moments before it attempted to land. It has emerged that minutes beforehand pilots using the same frequency had reported dangerous conditions caused by wind and rain, but these went unheeded.

The flight recorder has been sent to America for analysis.