Orient Thai Airlines confirmed a widely discussed incident aboard a flight leaving Phuket which made an emergency landing in Kunming, China, while refusing to acknowledge what caused the plane to fall from the sky.
A statement issued on the airline’s Facebook page last night stated that flight OX682, which was carrying Chinese holidaymakers home from Phuket to Chengdu on Friday night, landed safely in Kunming, but at no point did its cabin crew panic as had been reported.
Orient Thai did not address reports the emergency landing came after the plane plunged from the sky after an engine failed, instead selectively addressing a lesser detail as to what causes oxygen masks to drop.
Witnesses reportedly said the rapid descent caused some passengers to bleed from ears and mouth or lose consciousness.
“Due to the change in atmospheric pressure, the oxygen mask system activated itself normally,” the statement read. “The passengers were in good care of the cabin crew. The plane was landed in the nearest airport to follow the safety standards as the captain abided to the rules.”
Well thanks for clarifying that. The statement however was not a blanket denial of the entire incident, as claimed in a report by Thai PBS, “the broadcaster you can trust.”
But it seemed especially concerned with reports of conduct by the cabin crew.
“The flight attendants have performed their duty well and did not panic as according to news reports,” the statement said.
