"I kept my sanity to escape death" : Chatree

Chatree Suksawas, 26, who brought his Canadian girlfriend to visit his family, was the first person to kick the emergency door open moments after the crash.

 From his hospital bed, Chatree said there was no warning from the pilot during the entire time. It appeared that the pilots want the passengers to believe that the situation was under control, he said.

 He however sensed something wrong, looking at the outside atmosphere with heavy downpours and gusty wind.

Feeling the plane lowered the height and speed for landing, he soon felt the plane's body hit the ground hard, causing the whole plane to bounce violently before sliding to the left and dived into earthwall that torn off the left wing.

"In that critical moment, I saw flames burst from the plane's front part and I got a grip and took off my and my girlfriend's seatbelts. We ran to the midplane emergency door, which I kicked it open and we ran off. Looking back, we saw the plane was on fire. Although we narrowly escaped it, we could still imagine how much grief and loss that will be afterwards," Chatree said.

Chatree and girlfriend Mildred Anne Furlong, 23, suffered slight injuries from the crash impact. The couple boarded this flight as Chatree wanted to introduce his Canadian girlfriend to his family in Phang Nga. He said that, after they were admitted to Krungthep Phuket Hospital, the OneTwoGo airline officials had informed them they would cover their medical bills. "It'd take us a while to prepare ourselves before boarding a plane back after visiting my family here," he added.

- Survivor and eyewitnesses tell of the Phuket Airport crash