On October 16, 2013, Lao Airlines Flight 301 took off from Wattay International Airport, Vientiane, to Pakse International Airport, Pakse. The flight time on this domestic Laotian route is typically just over an hour. This fateful flight, however, did not make it to its destination.
A newly delivered ATR 72-600
Flight 301 was operated on an ATR 72-600 (registration RDPL-34233) that was delivered just seven months prior to the accident. Having logged only 758 airframe hours, the aircraft was in mint operating condition.
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On the flight deck were Captain Yong Som – a 57-year-old Cambodian national with 3,200 hours on the ATR-72 and a total of 5,600 flying hours – and First Officer Soulisack Houvanthong, aged 22, who had logged around 400 hours of flying experience.
The deadly Typhoon Nari
The flight departed from Vientiane at 14:45 on October 16, 2013. Weather reports were poor due to the passing Typhoon Nari, a deadly tropical cyclone that recorded wind speeds of up to 115 mph (sustained for one minute), wrecking damage worth $289.6 million across the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos.
Upon approach to Pakse, the procedure called for a descent to the minimum descent altitude of 900 feet, allowing for continued descent only if ground visual references were available.
Unfortunately, the crew had incorrectly set the altitude preselect mode to 600 feet. At this point, the ground was still not visible, so the crew disconnected the autopilot and aborted the approach to conduct a go-around.
Seconds to disaster
As the pilots attempted to execute a second approach, the flight director (a component related to the autopilot system that provides a guide but does not control the aircraft) indicated misleading readings that were inappropriate for the go-around. This was due to the flight crew’s incorrect altitude selection of 600 feet.
The missed approach was then followed by a right turn, instead of the nominal climb published in the approach chart. As this occurred, the aircraft began to lose altitude. When a series of warnings rang through the flight deck, the crew realized they were too close to the terrain, at just 60 feet above ground level.
In an over-reaction, the captain put the aircraft into an extreme pitch altitude of 33°. The plane climbed to 1,750 feet before pitching downwards again, continuing its descent.
Ultimately, Flight 301 impacted the Mekong riverbank and plunged into the water at 15:55.
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The aftermath
The accident claimed the lives of all 44 passengers and five crew members onboard. This included 20 Laotians, seven French nationals, six Australians, five Thais, three South Koreans, three Vietnamese, and one each from Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, and the United States. The fatalities in this single accident make up more than 10% of the total air accident deaths in Laos in over a century.
The investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee (AAIC) Laos took 13 months, assisted by ATR and the French Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA).
The probable cause of the accident was noted to be the flight crew’s failure to properly execute the published missed approach procedure. Following the crash, eight safety recommendations were drawn up. These included actions to ensure flight crews receive sufficient training.
Since 1919, Laos has recorded 36 fatal accidents – none of which were as disastrous as Flight 301.
Source: Aviation Safety Network
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How Lao Airlines Flight 301 Became The Deadliest Plane Crash Ever To Occur In Laos - Simple Flying
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