The pilot of a passenger plane that crashed while landing at Thailand's resort island of Phuket, killing 89 people, had been warned of a treacherous wind shear at the airport, but he decided to land anyway, a senior aviation official said.

Officials View the wreckage of the One-Two-Go Airline plane that crashed at Phuket International Airport on Sept.17. AP PHOTO

Wind shear a sudden change in either wind speed or direction in an aircraft's flight path can destabilize a plane, as pilots compensate for the condition, which can then suddenly disappear and put the aircraft out of control.

There were 123 passengers and seven crew members aboard One-Two-Go Airlines flight OG268 when it crashed Sept. 16 while apparently trying to abort a landing at Phuket airport.

The pilot and co-pilot were among the five crew members killed.

According to a transcript of the conversation between the control tower and the plane, ground officials informed the Indonesian pilot, Arief Mulyadi, about wind shear at the airport but he decided to land anyway, Air Transport Department Director General Chaisak Ungsuwan, said Sept. 17 on The Nation TV channel.

"The last word the pilot said was 'landing,' " he said.

Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen cautioned that it was too early to know what caused McDonnell Douglas MD-82 to crash.

"Officials have found the black boxes and will send them for analysis to the United States," the minister said.

"Hopefully, we will learn in a few weeks the cause of the accident."

Others suggested it could take a year to determine the cause.