Lao Airlines Flight 301

Lao Airlines Flight 301

RDPL-34233, the aircraft involved in the accident.
Accident summary
Date	16 October 2013
Summary	Pilot error, controlled flight into terrain
Site	Done Kho Island, Mekong River, Pakse, Laos 15°09′06″N 105°43′59″E / 15.15167°N 105.73306°E / 15.15167; 105.73306Coordinates: 15°09′06″N 105°43′59″E / 15.15167°N 105.73306°E / 15.15167; 105.73306
Passengers	44
Crew	5
Fatalities	49 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	ATR 72–600
Operator	Lao Airlines
Registration	RDPL-34233
Flight origin	Wattay International Airport, Vientiane, Laos
Destination	Pakse International Airport, 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, 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. The investigation report suggests pilot error as the probable cause. The accident was the second-deadliest aviation incident in 2013, behind Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363.

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.

The aircraft was operating a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Wattay International Airport, Vientiane to Pakse International Airport, Pakse, Laos. 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. 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.

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