KATHMANDU, Aug 8: Members of Parliament (MPs) have sought the resignation of Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, Badri Pandey, and the Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Pradeep Adhikari, following recent helicopter and airplane crashes.
In a meeting of the International Relations and Tourism Committee under the House of Representatives, MPs demanded that Minister Pandey and DG Adhikari resign, taking moral responsibility for the crashes.
During the meeting, ruling alliance Nepali Congress (NC) MP Rajendra Bajagain, MP of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Shishir Khanal, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) MP Dhawal Shamsher Rana, and Aam Janata Party MP Prabhu Shah said that Tourism Minister Pandey should take the moral responsibility of the accidents and resign, as there have been two incidents within two weeks.
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Nepali Congress MP Bajagain stated that both Tourism Minister Pandey and CAAN DG Adhikari should resign due to the accidents. He participated in the committee meeting as an invited member.
MP Khanal mentioned that even if the accidents were caused by human error, the regulatory body should take responsibility for its weaknesses.
MP Rana noted that someone has to take responsibility, citing instances from the Panchayat regime where a couple of ministers resigned following air accidents. "Either the minister should resign or the staff of the concerned agency should be suspended," said Rana.
MP Shah said that improvement cannot be achieved by covering up. "If accidents repeat within two weeks, it is understood that the government agency is not working effectively. Is the government here to kill people?" he asked.
However, DG Adhikari stated that the Air Dynasty helicopter crashed due to crew weaknesses and stated a detailed report on this would be provided by the investigation committee formed by the government.
He claimed that the accident occurred because the helicopter entered an area with bad weather clouds, where permission had not been granted by the Visual Flight Rules (VFR). DG Adhikari argued that the helicopter entering clouds or areas with poor visibility without VFR permission is prohibited, and he presented evidence that the crew was responsible for this violation.
On July 24, there was an aircraft accident involving Saurya Airlines at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), and two weeks later, on Wednesday, an Air Dynasty helicopter crashed in Surya Chaur, Nuwakot. The plane crash resulted in 18 deaths, while the helicopter crash claimed five lives.
