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Lao Aviation Flight 703

19 Oct 2000 · 12 km from Nathong Airport, Laos

Lao Airlines Harbin Y-12 · Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error

From Wattay International Airport (VTE) to Sam Neua Airport (NEU)

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Event

Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
Event fatalities
8 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
17
Survivors
9
InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
9
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Airline

Harbin Y-12

Flight
QV703
Aircraft type
Harbin Y-12
Category
Airplane · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
RDPL-34130
Operator
Lao Airlines
Onboard fatalities
8
Route
From Wattay International Airport (VTE)To Sam Neua Airport (NEU)

Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.

From the Wikipedia article

Lao Aviation Flight 703 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Vientiane to Xam Neua, Laos. On 19 October 2000, the Harbin Y-12 II crashed into a mountain 12 km from the airport due to pilot error. At least eight passengers died, including citizens from Germany, Singapore, and South Africa, while seven passengers and two crew members survived but were injured. The crash was the fourth fatal crash involving the airline in the previous ten years, and the second in four months.

The search for the crash site was made difficult by low cloud cover and dense smoke in the area. One group of survivors walked from the crash site to a village nearby.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Lao Aviation Flight 703” (revision 1339310335, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article

Sources

Wikipedia article: Lao Aviation Flight 703
Article
Lao Aviation Flight 703
Revision
1339310335 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q65065741
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
Record
Wikipedia article "Lao Aviation Flight 703" (page 60604250, revision 1339310335)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
none
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
airline flight number in the infobox
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.