KHON KAEN: Four people were killed when their helicopter crashed onto a paddy field in Chonnabot district yesterday morning.
It was reported the four on board were the pilot, Seksan Wanna; assistant pilot, Pol Col Sinsamut Santhepa; and two passengers, Somnao Noisakul and Ronnakit Phetnin.
TV Channel 7 had hired the helicopter for a news report and TV programme. It was heading to Khon Kaen to pick up the reporters when it went down, according to airport director Atthaya Lapmark.
The helicopter, AS355NP, was en route from Saraburi to Khon Kaen airport, where it was due to arrive at 9am, he said. Air traffic control lost contact with it over Chonnabot district.
It crashed in tambon Wang Saeng and was engulfed in flames when emergency responders arrived at the scene, Pol Col Keeratikorn Amornpatpakhin, chief of Chonnabot police station, said.
Firemen extinguished the blaze, but by then the helicopter was a destroyed wreck.
Dark clouds covered the sky over the area and it was raining when the chopper went down. Airport authorities suspected poor visibility contributed to the crash.
Prayut Putpueng, a local resident, said he saw the helicopter hovering about 40 metres from the ground and it circled the field twice before it went down.
In a separate development, the only person who did not immediately perish in the crash of a fixed-wing Cessna-182 in Mae Hong Son earlier this month has died.
Sgt Maj 1st Class Chatchanan Khuenkaew was pronounced dead with a blood infection on Tuesday night after being hospitalised for 13 days.
On July 5, an army search and rescue plane crashed in a forest near Nam Huay Sai Kho in Muang district of Mae Hong Son, 30km north of the airport.
While flying at an altitude of 1,500m, 18km north of Mae Hong Son airport, it disappeared from radar.
The two pilots were later found dead -- Lt Naruepol Pookthong and Lt Varoj Plaengkrathok -- as well as crew member Lt Khemmaraj Duangkaew.
Sgt Maj 1st Class Chatchanan's funeral will be held on Saturday at Sri Banyen Church in Chiang Kham district of Phayao.