Photo: From the official X page of Royal Thai Police Tragedy in Thailand.
This morning (Friday), a light aircraft belonging to the Thai police crashed into the sea near Cha-Am Beach in Phetchaburi Province, close to Hua Hin Airport, during a training exercise of the police aviation unit.
Six police officers on board the aircraft perished in the tragic incident, with one initially found injured and conscious, but later died from his injuries in the hospital.
The national police commander, General Kittirat Panchopit, arrived at the scene and personally oversaw the search and investigation. Meanwhile, divers and rescue personnel worked to locate the black box and reconstruct the flight data.
The six police officers killed in the incident are: Lieutenant Prasan Kyaocha (pilot), Captain Napaphat Muncheitwirakorn (co-pilot), Sergeant Jetrong Watnaprasart (pilot, who was severely injured and later died), Sergeant Thanarot Munprasertsuk (aircraft technician), Sergeant Parawat Plongsa (flight mechanic), and Senior Sergeant Tiraoot Maqsafa (flight mechanic).
Photo: From the official X page of Royal Thai PolicePreliminary findings indicate that the pilots made a deliberate attempt to veer the aircraft towards the sea to avoid crashing in populated areas, which may have prevented an even larger disaster. The investigation unit has already retrieved the aircraft's black box and has begun examining the data.