At least 5 Thais dead in Laos plane crash: 44 total dead.

[Colabamumbai]

I flew with Lao Air 35 years ago Vientiane to Luang Prabang. Black duct tape kept the seats together and my arm kept getting stuck to the seat. Half of the interior type windows were cracked.

A couple on the ground when we landed in a field said to me " You look a little green." meaning sick. I was not, but will never forget the flight.

[ben2203]

The manifest is correct. I noticed there is a Ms J Rhodes listed as a Lao national however there are also 2 Rhodes listed as Australians. I am assuming that Ms Rhodes is a dual national and used her Lao identify to board the aircraft but was married to an Australian.

Yes, the Rhodes family, the wife was Laotian but travelling on an Australian passport, her husband who was Australian, her three year old son who is listed as Australian and their 17 month old Jadesuda Rhodes who was travelling on a Laotian passport.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/lao-airlines-plane-crash-dfat-says-six-australians-killed-20131017-2vn8n.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/sydney-family-among-victims-of-laos-plane-crash-which-has-left-49-dead/story-e6frg6nf-1226741353594

Quite tragic, RIP

Edited October 17, 2013 by ben2203

[MrWorldwide]

http://www.smh.com.au/world/laos-plane-crash-sydney-family-among-49-killed-20131017-2vnr6.html

There is a photo of the Australian family in that article - posing in front of the Opera House. RIP.

[Spare]

Lesson learn. Never fly a 3rd world airlines like Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thai, etc.

[lee b]

Lesson learn. Never fly a 3rd world airlines like Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thai, etc.

Why?? was it not Air France that had the concorde taken out of action as it smashed into the side of a building? Is France a third world country??

[Steely Dan]

I've flown Laos airlines, or is it Laos aviation now after a name change? I did approve of the candor they show by dispensing with any in flight safety demonstration. Whist we waited for more passengers to embark at Luang Prabang one of the ground crew prodded some masking tape on a propeller with a pencil then shrugged. P.S RIP the deceased.

I wish people would stop this ridiculous rumor-mongering. I call you on this comment...you are most likely out-and-out LYING. Both about not doing the safety demonstration AND your stupid masking tape comment. In the case of the masking tape, as another poster has pointed out, very likely your general cluelessness has colored your witnessing of a normal procedure for ATR-72s. I can ask my friend, who is a pilot with 10s of thousands of ATR-72 experience, such an expert at them that he (a Cambodian) has trained Thais how to fly them.

I have had nothing but good experiences on Lao Airlines, especially in recent (the past 8 or so) years. And they have not had an accident for a long time. I flew on this exact same flight in the accident, 2 years ago: leaving Vientiane at 2:45 pm for Pakse. The equipment seemed well-kept, and while I'm not a pilot, I'm a very frequent flier and nothing about the operation of the plane struck me as sub-standard. I've also had very good experiences on their Luang Phabang-Vientiane route, which I'll be flying again in December (I'll also be flying Lao Airlines from Bangkok to Luang Phabang then).

Airline accidents are very tragic and unfortunate, and they happen VERY rarely, especially when one considers the thousand and thousands of commercial flights worldwide--including those of Lao Airlines--which reach their destinations safely every day.

RIP to the victims and condolences to those who survive them. You do no good to anybody by spreading your false rumors and unfounded slanderous talk.

It is you who is engaging in slander, but I can't prove that, seeing as I can't prove there was no safety demonstration on the flight I took, any more than you can prove there was one. I would further add that on landing for a brief stop over at Luang Prabang I could clearly see three children skateboarding on the tarmac close to the perimeter fence.

P.S On balance however I would still rather fly to Luang Prabang than take the speedboat up the Mekong.

P.P.S If you care to google Laos Airlines and the phrase 'No safety demonstration' you will get to a link on a Flyer forum commenting on exactly what I mentioned. I await an apology and retraction for your bombast.

Edited October 17, 2013 by Steely Dan

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been deleted.

[iancnx]

I am speechless at reading the nonsense posts above.

49 souls lost. I am devastated for them all and their families. I fly tomorrow and I am crapping myself.

RIP poor poor people.

[beautifulthailand99]

Lesson learn. Never fly a 3rd world airlines like Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thai, etc.

One should add domestically - international flights have to come up to international standards and are fairly rigorous which is why there are now so few accidents in this area.

[barrybankruad]

Article in today's West Australian states 'downdraught' could be linked to this tragic event. It also gives a short history of the aircraft involved.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/19447056/sudden-downdraft-linked-to-lao-plane-crash/

[nonsequitur]

Very sad - have always had doubts about flying Laos domestic and this sadly has confirmed them. Here is one of Laos Airways ATR-72's in action.

The most dangerous thing in the video is the Mekong river!

[anotheruser]

Communist Laos, landlocked between Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and China, is a closed country with a secretive one-party government.

Yes, it is not quite the happy, transparent democracy that Thailand aspires to be. It is also not on the brink of civil war.

Edited October 19, 2013 by anotheruser

[abq2020]

According to Wikipedia, the ATR-72 Aircraft, has been involved in at least one accident every year in some developing country since 2002.

The last known in Thailand was: 4th August 2009, Bangkok Airways Flight 266, an ATR 72-212A from Bangkok Airways skidded into a disused tower at the airport on Koh Samui. The pilot of the aircraft died and ten passengers were injured. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATR_72

This particlar aircraft's safety record is now highly questionable; now having a one-to-one ratio accident event every year.

In most circumstance, theses accidents have occurred in poor weather conditions which raises the specter or whether or not these types of aircraft are suitable for tropical conditions in developing countries.

Statistics are misleading. This airframe in its various configurations is flown by MANY airlines through-out the world, and with a very excellent safety record when the numbers and statistics are actually considered. In the past, there was a severe problem with it when it was used in cold climate areas (due to icing and resulting control problems), with several accidents/crashes directly attributed to such events. However, its safety record other areas in superb, with few accidents overall, and almost all attributable to either pilot or controller errors, and VERY extreme weather. Like most commuter-sized, short-haul aircraft....it hates extreme weather and poor pilots.