According to the flight tracking site FL360aero, the Thai Flying Service Cessna Caravan C208 (HS-SKR) with nine people onboard left Suvarnabhumi airport in Samut Prakan at 2:46pm, bound for Ko Mai Chee airport in Trat.
The aircraft reportedly lost contact with the Suvarnabhumi control tower at around 3pm and the crash occurred at 3:18pm behind Wat Khao Din in Bang Pakong district, reports the Bangkok Post.
The wreckage of the plane was found in the mud in a mangrove forest near the temple. Women’s clothes and a photograph of three foreign women were also found at the site.
Rescuers used pumps to drain water and backhoe trucks to excavate mud about 10 metres deep and eight metres wide. During their search, they located several human body parts.
Chacheongsao governor Chonlatee Yangtrong said that by 2am today, it was believed all nine onboard had died in the crash.
The victims included five Chinese nationals: Zhang Jingjing, 12; Zhang Jing, 43; Tang Yu, 42; Yin Jinfeng, 45; and Yin Hang, 13.
The two Thai flight attendants were Napak Jirasiri, 35, and Siriyupa Arunatid, 26. The pilot was Flt Lt Anucha Dechapirakchon, 61, and the co-pilot was Pornsak Totab, 30.