Asia-Pacific Grim task over Salvage work has been hampered by mud and rain An investigation has begun into the causes of the air crash in southern Thailand which left 101 people dead. Daylight scenes of destruction Airbus, the aircraft's European manufacturer, is sending a team of specialists to assist the Thai authorities. Both the plane's flight recorders have now been found.
Thai officials say all passengers have now been accounted for.
There have been two other crashes involving Airbus aeroplanes in Asia in the last 15 months. The BBC Asia business correspondent, David Willis, says this has prompted speculation that shrinking profit margins resulting from the region's economic downturn may have compromised maintenance and safety standards. The European Consortium Airbus Industrie, based in France, said the plane was delivered in April 1986 and had accumulated 23,000 flight hours. Officials of Thai International Airways said it was too early to speculate as to the cause of the disaster. But one senior international air crash investigator has been quoted as saying that bad weather appears a likely cause, while pilot error cannot be ruled out.