Hanoi – Saigon

On August 16, 1954 at 12:00 AM, Hanoi – Saigon experienced a crash involving Bristol 170 Freighter, operated by Air Vietnam, with the event recorded near Pakse Champasak Province.

The flight was categorized as humanitarian and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a plain, valley crash site.

55 people were known to be on board, 47 fatalities were recorded, 8 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 85.5%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 51, passenger fatalities: 46, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The aircraft was performing a special flight from Hanoi to Saigon, carrying refugees leaving the Red River. In-flight, the crew informed ATC about an engine failure and received the permission to divert to Pakse for an emergency landing. The airplane lost height and eventually crashed on the bank of the Sedone River, a tributary of the Mekong River. Three crew members and five passengers were seriously injured while 47 other occupants were killed. The aircraft was totally destroyed upon impact.

Aircraft reference details include registration F-VNAI, MSN 12809, year of manufacture 1946.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 15.1134°, 105.8151°.