An out-of-control Boeing 737 crushed an airport engineer to death this morning as it was being towed to collect passengers in Bangkok.

The Nok Air plane was being pulled to one of the gates at Don Mueang International in the Thai capital at 8am when the bar bridging it to the tow truck suddenly snapped.

The truck screeched to a halt but momentum carried the jet forward, before it violently lurched to the left and crunched into the far smaller vehicle.

Thanisorn Oncha-am was rushed to hospital but later died from 'severe injuries sustained in the crash'.

A second mechanic who was also aboard the tow tractor was injured in the collision.

The plane is being towed safely towards the gate before the tow bar snaps

The jet rolls forwards, crushing the tractor underneath

The tow truck was crushed by the Boeing 737 after the bridging bar snapped and the jet lurched forward in Bangkok

Thanisorn Oncha-am was rushed to hospital but later died from 'severe injuries sustained in the crash'

Airport director Samphan Khutharanon said: 'The Nok Air flight DD6458 from Don Mueang to Nakhon Si Thammarat collided with a Nok Air tow truck.

'The accident happened while the truck was dragging the plane to the gate to wait for passengers to travel.

'The towing device that connects the vehicle to the plane broke, causing it to stop while the plane continued moving forwards.'

Nok Air Scheduled flight DD6458 from Bangkok to Nakhon Si Thammarat in the south of the country was delayed while authorities began investigating.

Horrifying CCTV footage of the smash shows the truck pulling the imposing 189-seat jet across the tarmac.

Suddenly, the truck grinds to a halt, but the yellow and orange-painted plane continues to roll forward with momentum and swoops to the left,

The body section of the craft next to the wing scraped the top of the vehicle, which seemed to partially collapse under the mammoth weight

Emergency crews race over to the scene where the Nok Air plane swung round and smashed a tow truck

Thanisorn Oncha-am, an enegineer and airport worker, was aboard the truck and was killed. His family will receive emotional and financial support, Nok Air said

The body section of the craft next to the wing scrapes the top of the vehicle, which seems to collapse under the mammoth weight as the plane then appears to sink down.

The jet then comes to a stop, and emergency airport crews race over to the plane.

Aftermath photos show the truck trapped under the colossal weight of the liner, but it does not appear to be completely written off.

The plane has been taken out of action to assess the damage and investigate what caused the crash.

A new plane was used for the 8.40am flight and it departed at 9:50am.

Nok Air said in a statement that they were now waiting for a post-mortem examination to confirm exactly how their employee died.

The 189-seat plane has been taken out of action to assess the damage and investigate what caused the crash

It said: 'One member of ground staff in the tow truck was seriously injured and died at the hospital and another injured officer has been taken to the hospital.

'The airline will provide assistance in terms of financial remedies for the family of the victim and continue to take good care of the family's mental state.'

Thailand has two airports serving the capital Bangkok. The country's flagship Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samut Prakan province handles international flights while the smaller, older airport Don Mueang that it replaced in 2006 and which now handles domestic flights and regional flights in Asia.