Confused handling of Myanmar plane

[tinkyi@xxxxxxx]

Confused handling of Myanmar plane crash sparks conspiracy theories

       Mon 31 Aug 98 - 05:46 GMT

       BANGKOK, Aug 31 (AFP) - A Myanmar passenger jet plunged into a
mountainside, killing all on board. Or did it?
       And how many were on board anyway?

       Analysts highlight the confusion over the apparent air disaster as
another example of spin doctors from the isolated
       state at play, saying their handling of the saga was either
conspiratorial or simply incompetent.

       Officials confirmed only Saturday that the Myanmar Airways Fokker-27
had crashed, five days after it went missing
       in bad weather during a scheduled domestic flight. But even that
announcement, carried in the official New Light of
       Myanmar daily, conceded only that it was "probable" there were no
survivors and did not indicate how many had
       been on board the aircraft.

       Airline officials had variously said there were 36 or 39 passengers
and crew, all of them Myanmar nationals.
       Aviation sources in Yangon said most of the passengers were military
officers and their families.

       "It's really been a complete shambles," said one western diplomat in
the Myanmar capital.

       "From the day it went missing until now they have failed to tell us
what the true situation is. God help us if an
       international carrier comes down here with lots of people on board."

       Airline officials Monday said the flight from Yangon to the
northeastern town of Tachilek had simply gone missing
       after being ordered to divert to another airport because of poor
visibility. The pilot had been told to land at the
       Myanmar town of Heho or the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, rather
than Tachilek, in Shan state, within the
       "Golden Triangle" opium-growing area.

       The officials claimed the following day that the plane had landed
safely at an airport in neighbouring Laos and that
       all on board were safe. Then they said it had in fact landed in a
field in Laos, but that everyone was safe.

       A flurry of contradictory reports followed before confirmation came
Friday, from Thai military officials who had
       helped search for the plane, that the aircraft had crashed within
Myanmar and that all on board were dead.

       The confusion has sparked a range of conspiracy theories, from it
being an attempted cover-up to protect the already
       shaky reputation of Myanmar's carriers and shield its fledgling
tourism industry, to talk of bombs and hijackings.

       "I don't think many people really believe it was an attack of some
kind," said another foreign diplomat in Yangon.

       "But I could buy the cover-up theory. A crash certainly doesn't help
the reputation of the airline or the country, as
       other countries have found out. But how could they seriously believe
they could cover up the loss of a plane and all
       those people? It was pretty badly bungled."

       Other diplomats said the saga was more likely the result of
disorganisation and incompetence on the part of some
       officials in an impoverished country whose bureaucracy is not known
for its efficiency.

       "Everything moves pretty slowly here, so it's not surprising they
were so slow in responding to a plane crash,"
       added one.

       "Perhaps the airline really did believe it had landed in Laos, though
you have to wonder who told them that
       originally. If it wasn't the pilot -- who obviously wasn't speaking
at that time -- then it should have been Lao
       officials, or maybe the Thais. But I don't think they would just make
it up.

       "Unless, of course, we are talking about two different planes -- one
that crashed and one that didn't. Anything is
       possible in Burma."


)AFP 1998