Jet exploded due to malfunction?

Jet exploded due to malfunction?

CHIANG RAI, Thailand (AFP): The blast that destroyed a Thai Airways jet a week ago may have been caused by a malfunction and not by a bomb as had been thought, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Sunday.

Thaksin and his son were about to board the Boeing 737-400 on March 3 when the explosion and resulting fire gutted the aircraft as it stood on the tarmac at Bangkok's domestic airport.

The premier said an inquiry by the jet's manufacturer had found a fault in the air-conditioning system which it believed may have set off the blast.

"There are two different investigations. The police found RDX, which is one component in a (plastic explosive) C-4 bomb, but the Boeing team has found that there was a problem with the air conditioning system," he said.