Myanmar Says Aircraft Hits Lao Moun

[byva@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Myanmar Says Aircraft Hits Lao Mountainside ÿ

                           08:24 a.m. Aug 27, 1998 Eastern ÿ


                           By Aung Hla Tun ÿ


                           YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar Airways Fokker F-ÿ
27
turboprop reported missing four
                           days ago crashed in northern Laos, but the fatÿ
e of
the passengers and crew was unknown, a
                           spokesman for the Myanmar government said Thurÿ
sday.


Officials in neighboring Laos told the Myanmar government the aircraft, wÿ
hich
had been on
                           a domestic flight, crashed on Payakha mountainÿ
 in
the north of the country, he said. ÿ


                           ``The fate of the passengers has still to be
confirmed,'' the spokesman said. ``All the
                           passengers are from Myanmar. There are no
foreigners involved.'' ÿ


                           It was the second crash of a Myanmar Airways Fÿ
-27
this year. ÿ


                           A Transport Ministry official said Monday the ÿ
plane
had carried about 39 passengers,
                           although local press reports have said only thÿ
at
more than 20 passengers were aboard.
                           There has been no word on how many crew were oÿ
n
board, but one airline official said
                           earlier that the F-27 normally had four. ÿ


                           An official of Myanmar Airways International iÿ
n
Bangkok said most of those on the plane
                           were Myanmar military personnel. The airline hÿ
as
not provided a manifest to journalists. ÿ


                           Flight UB635 had been on a regular two-hour flÿ
ight
from Yangon to Myanmar's eastern
                           border town of Tachilek, where it had been dueÿ
 to
land at 0200 GMT Monday. ÿ


                           Yangon's Ministry of Information said Monday tÿ
he
Fokker had been unable to land at
Tachilek due to poor weather and had flown on to Heho in southeast Myanmaÿ
r but
then lost contact with ground control. ÿ


                           Tin Hlaing Hmee, the managing director of Myanÿ
mar
Airways, said an official of the
                           airline who said Tuesday that the plane had laÿ
nded
safely in Laos had not been authorised
                           to speak about the issue. ÿ


                           Earlier, state radio said Myanmar conducted anÿ
 air
and ground search in cooperation with
Thai and Laotian authorities. The Thai Search and Rescue Centre in Bangkoÿ
k
said Thailand
                           had sent helicopters to search for the plane. ÿ


Thepthavorn Saengmanee, deputy spokesman of the Lao foreign ministry in
Vientiane, said
                           there was no airstrip in northern Laos close tÿ
o the
Thai border large enough for an F-27 to
                           land. ÿ


                           According to Jane's ``All The World's Aircraftÿ
,''
the Fokker 27 needs more than a km (0.6
                           mile) of runway for landing. ÿ


                           In January, 14 people, including three foreignÿ
ers,
were killed when a Myanmar Airways
                           F-27 carrying about 45 people on a domestic flÿ
ight
crashed near Thandwe, about 320 km
                           (200 miles) northwest of Yangon. ÿ



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