Incident
Thai Airways Flight 365, a Boeing aircraft, departed from Hat Yai and approached Phuket VOR/DME on radial 119. Concurrently, Dragon Air Flight 203, a Boeing 737 registered VR-HYL with 62 occupants, approached on radial 090. At 08:34 UTC, Dragonair 203 reported at 2,500 feet with Thai 365 in sight ahead. Thai 365 was at 3,000 feet, 13 miles from the VOR/DME.
Sequence of Events
Dragonair 203 held first landing priority. It turned right at 12 DME to begin an inbound approach for runway 27. The Thai crew suspected the Dragonair crew had made a false position report to gain priority. They reported being at 8 DME inbound and requested a visual approach, though they had not yet reached that point. At 08:35, Phuket Approach granted Thai 365 landing priority.
The Dragonair crew, flying under IFR, warned that Thai 365 could not descend through their altitude. While focusing on the conflicting traffic, Thai 365's speed decreased to 163 knots, triggering the stick shaker. The crew applied power and raised the landing gear, but the aircraft entered a stall and crashed into the sea, disintegrating on impact. All 83 occupants were killed.
Investigation
The official probable cause stated that the pilot slowed the aircraft and it stalled while preparing to be number one on landing as advised by approach control. The pilot was worrying and uncertain about making the landing due to a warning from the number two aircraft. Power was added and gear raised after stick shaker activation, but recovery was not completed before impact.