A passenger plane skidded off the runway and crashed into a building in Thailand on Tuesday, killing the chief pilot. At least seven passengers were injured.

A senior aviation official says the Bangkok Airways flight landed on the resort island of Ko Samui in stormy weather. It then hit the airport's old air traffic control tower, which had been converted into a fire station.

The co-pilot and six tourists were hurt. The co-pilot, who was stuck in the aircraft for more than two hours, was among the last evacuated from the stricken plane.

Officials said the chief pilot had 19 years of experience.

The ATR72-500 twin-turboprop had 68 passengers, two pilots and two crew members on board and was flying from Krabi, another popular resort area in southern Thailand.

Ko Samui, located some 300 miles south of Bangkok, is an island in the Gulf of Thailand popular with foreign tourists.