Despite reports that an engine failure caused an Orient Thai Airlines flight from Phuket to Chengdu to plummet towards the ground over China on Friday night, terrorising passengers, the airline issued a statement on Wednesday asserting that the plane landed normally in Kunming without any panic.
According to the airline statement, flight OX682 left Phuket at 8pm on March 27 and was scheduled to arrive Chengdu at 1am on March 28. There were 132 passengers and eight crew aboard.
The airline received a report at 11pm on Friday that the aircraft landed instead in Kunming and its staff had taken a good care of passengers without any panic as reported in the media.
News reports said an engine failed and the aircraft plunged towards the ground so quickly that many panicking passengers suffered nosebleeds and some fainted because of the rapid descent.
The reports said the pilots regained control of the aircraft only after a long, sudden descent.
According to the airline statement there was no panic. It did not really explain what happened and why the plane landed in Kunming.
The airline said a change in air pressure in the aircraft had triggered the oxygen masks to drop down for the passengers to use them. It said the cabin crew took care of all passengers and the pilots landed the aircraft at the nearest airport, in line with standard safe practice.
The statement said passengers were accommodated at a Kunming hotel and the next day Orient Thai Airlines sent another plane from Don Mueang to pick them up. They all landed safely at Chengdu around 5.30pm on Saturday.
