Lao Airlines Flight 301

Location of the accident shown within Laos.

Lao Airlines Flight 301 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Vientiane to Pakse, Laos. On 16 October 2013, the ATR 72–600 aircraft operating the flight crashed into the Mekong River in Pakse, killing all 49 people on board. The accident, the first involving an ATR 72–600,^[1] was the deadliest ever to occur on Laotian soil and the third-deadliest involving an ATR 72 behind Aero Caribbean Flight 883 and American Eagle Flight 4184, which both killed 68. It was also the first fatal accident for Lao Airlines since 2000.^[2][3][4][5] The investigation report suggests pilot error as the probable cause.^[6] The accident was the second-deadliest aviation incident in 2013, behind Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was an ATR 72-600, registration RDPL-34233, serial number 1071, with an accumulated 758 hours of flight. It was delivered to Lao Airlines on 29 March 2013.^[7][8]

Accident

The aircraft was operating a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Wattay International Airport, Vientiane to Pakse International Airport, Pakse, Laos.^[9][10] The flight departed from Vientiane at 14:45 local time (07:45 UTC) and crashed into the Mekong River at 15:55 local time (08:55 UTC) while approaching Pakse for the second time, less than 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the airport.^[11][12][13] The aircraft had already gone around once due to poor weather and was in the downwind leg for another approach when the aircraft impacted the nearby river.^[10]

There were five crew and 44 passengers on board, all of whom are presumed to have died upon impact.^[14] Marks on the ground indicated that the aircraft landed heavily on the ground before entering the Mekong.^[15] The weather was reported to be poor at the time of the accident due to the remnants of Typhoon Nari affecting southern Laos.^[10][16]

Recovery of the victims and wreckage was hampered by the fast-flowing, deep waters of the Mekong. To assist with the search, 50 divers from Thailand were brought in.^[7] Eighteen of the victims had been recovered as of 18 October.^[17] By 23 October 44 of the 49 victims had been recovered. Identification had been confirmed for 27 of them.^[18] Some of the victims were found 19 kilometres (12 mi) downstream of the crash site.^[15]

Investigation

The Laotian Department of Civil Aviation opened an investigation into the accident.^[7] The aircraft's manufacturer ATR and the French Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA) are assisting them.^[10] The BEA sent four investigators to Laos.^[19]

The wreckage of the aircraft was lifted from the Mekong on 22 October 2013.^[18] More than two weeks after the accident, on 31 October 2013, the Cockpit Voice Recorder was successfully recovered from the Mekong.^[10][20] The Flight Data Recorder was recovered two days later on 2 November.^[10]

According to the official investigation report, released on 28 November 2014, the probable cause of the accident was the flight crew's failure to properly execute the published missed approach procedure, which resulted in the aircraft impacting terrain. A sudden change of weather conditions and an improperly executed published instrument approach necessitated the go-around. ^[21] The recordings show that the flight crew initiated a right turn according to the lateral missed approach trajectory without succeeding in reaching the vertical trajectory. Specifically, the flight crew didn't follow the vertical profile of missed approach as the missed approach altitude was set at 600 ft and the aircraft system went into altitude capture mode. When the flight crew realized that the altitude was too close to the ground, the PF over-reacted, which led to a high pitch attitude of 33°. It then impacted trees. The fuselage struck the bank and plunged into the river.

Passengers and crew

The victims were of eleven nationalities. Of the 44 passengers on board, 16 were Laotian,^[14] as were four of the five crew. The pilot was a Cambodian national.^[15][16] The remaining casualties consisted of seven French nationals, six Australians, five Thais, three South Koreans, three Vietnamese, and one each from China, Taiwan, Malaysia and the United States.^[11] At least two children, both from Australia, were among the dead.^[22] Early reports that a Canadian was on board were incorrect, since it was later determined that the individual was a Vietnamese national.^[23]

Country	Passengers	Crew	Total
Laos	16	4	20
France	7	0	7
Australia	6	0	6
Thailand	5	0	5
Korea, Republic of	3	0	3
Vietnam	3	0	3
Cambodia		1	1
China	1	0	1
Malaysia	1	0	1
Taiwan	1	0	1
United States	1	0	1
Total	44	5	49

The pilots were:

• Captain Yong Som (57), he had logged 5,600 flying hours, of which 3,200 were on the ATR-72.
• First Officer Soulisack Houvanthong (22), he had logged around 400 hours of flying experience.

See also

• Garuda Indonesia Flight 200
• Lion Air Flight 904

References

External links

• "Press Release on the Final Report Aircraft Accident Investigation-QV 301" (ພິທີ ຖະແຫຼງການ ກ່ຽວກັບຜົນການສຶບສວນ-ສອບສວນ ອຸປະຕິເຫດເຮືອບິນ ATR 72 ຖ້ຽວບິນ QV 301 ຕົກທີ່ ປາກເຊ). Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee (AAIC), Ministry of Public Works and Transport
  • Press Release Summary of final report (Archive) - Black and white version for printing (Archive)
  • Press Release Summary of final report (Archive) - Black and white version for printing (Archive) (in Lao)
• Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee (AAIC), Ministry of Public Works and Transport
  • "ວນທ21ຕຸລາ2013,ເວລາ9:00ໂມງ" (Archive) (in Lao)
  • "ກອງປະຊຸມປຶກສາຫາລື ເພື່ອສືບຕໍ່ຊອກຄົ້ນຊາກສົບຜູ້ຖືກເຄາະຮ້າຍ ແລະ ຊິ້ນສ່ວນເຮືອບິນ ATR 72 ຂອງສາຍການບິນລາວ" (Archive) (in Lao)
• Announcement – Lao Airlines (Documents available in English and Lao) (Archive)