The bodies of all four people on board the helicopter that crashed yesterday morning in a Khon Kaen rice field have been found, and it is now being revealed that the helicopter was carrying a TV news crew on their way to cover a storm.
On board were pilot Seksorn Wanna; co-pilot Pol. Col. Sinsamut Sinpeta; and Somnao Noisakul and Ronnakit Petchnil, two videographers for Eagle News Aviation, the media company that produces Hawk Eye News for Channel 7, according to TNN.
Known for their signature “bird’s-eye view” reporting, the team was on their way to pick up two reporters at Khon Kaen airport before the crash.
Reporter Natthapong Moohammad, who narrowly escaped the ordeal, said that his team had meant to report on a storm in Roi Et province that day.
“I report news on a helicopter. I never dreamed in my life that I would have to speak [on camera] about own story. They [the videographers] were more than my co-workers — they were my family,” Natthapong Moohammad said in a TV broadcast.
All four bodies were reportedly burned beyond recognition, according to TNN.
Prayutch Pootpeung, a 41-year-old local resident, told Nation TV that he heard the sounds of the helicopter and then a loud crash. After that, he and other locals ran to the rice field — 400 meters from their village — to see what had happened. The helicopter exploded on the ground before they could approach it, he said.
Crime scene investigators are currently collecting evidence to determine the cause of the crash. They are hoping to conclude their findings by the beginning of next week, reported Channel 7.
Early this morning, Channel 7’s Field News program paid tribute to the loss of their co-workers.
“We are all saddened and shocked by the news” said anchor and former Hawkeye News reporter Chaianan Panchu, explaining that the channel’s 8-year collaboration with Eagle News Aviation began in 2011 during reporting on historically disastrous flooding.
“Every time I encountered the team, they’d ask me how I was, if I had eaten or if I was tired,” Chaianan said. “I’m going to love and miss you guys forever.”
