Lao Airlines Crash
 

Just seen a report of a Lao Airline plane crashing into the Mekong near Pakse. Initial reports suggest 39 killed.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...99F0GH20131016

Wow, sorry to hear that.

Sad. They fly little prop planes, but their safety record had been pretty good in the last few years.

How tragic! I was apprehensive when making reservations but was very impressed with their flight. Lao Air was so meticulous that the snack boxes had stick on labels correcting "Your's safe with Lao Air" to "You are safe with Lao Air." ( Yes, we peeled off the labels to see what atrocity was being hidden.)

More on the crash: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/17/wo...n-laos.html?hp

"They fly little prop planes". Misinformation here. Lao Airlines also flies 3 Airbus A320.

We were on a 50 passenger Lao Airlines turboprop airplane from Luang Prabang to Hanoi. After take off, there was a strong smell of cigarette smoke in the cabin. The passengers were looking at each other quizzically. A couple of us mentioned it to the flight attendant. She looked in the rest room and up and down the aisle. Turns out that the pilots were smoking.

Lao Airlines is not IATA certified. And, their pilots smoke I wouldn't fly Lao Airlines again.

The plane that crashed was an ATR, a prop plane, and all on board died. Operations are being conducted by Thai volunteers at this very moment to recovery the bodies from a very swollen and fast flowing Mekong river.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia...air-crash-dead

" And, their pilots smoke I wouldn't fly Lao Airlines again." I doubt this. In the more than 30 times that I have flown Lao Airlines, I have NEVER seen or smelled the pilots smoking.

Taking that flight today, reckoning the safest time to fly is just after a crash. If the pilots are smoking I will feel much more relaxed about things. Nothing worse than a jittery pilot. :)

Well, Offwego, that is a good way to look at it. Pilots sitting back, smoking and relaxed : )

Vientianboy, our Lao pilots WERE smoking. Maybe your flights never had smoking pilots, but ours pilots were indeed smoking, The flight attendant <u>confirmed it.</u> It didn't affect our landing, it was actually a nice flight. But your "doubting" the veracity of my post does not change the fact that the pilots were smoking on our flight. I'm not known in the forums for making things up. But thanks anyway for posting your opinion that you have "NEVER smelled the pilots smoking". Capital letters always help with credence.