KATHMANDU, May 30: Nepal has recorded a number of unfortunate plane crashes among other significant incidents in its aviation history. A total of 20 accidents have occurred inside the country’s airspace since 2006 resulting in a total of 222 fatalities, excluding the recent plane crash of Tara Air on Sunday, according to the database of Aviation Safety Network.
Unfavorable weather conditions, difficult terrain for aircraft maneuvering and use of old planes are often blamed for such incidents.
Tara Air was listed as one of the ‘most dangerous airlines’ by Forbes in 2019. Yeti Airlines, which owns 50 percent shares in Tara Air and is considered its ‘parent company’ has seen six accidents in the past 16 years.
On Sunday, a DHC-6 twin otter, 9N-AET carrying 19 passengers and three crew members lost contact with the airport after it reached the Ghorepani region during its third flight to Jomsom from Pokhara Airport. The plane was found early Monday by the locals near Thasang-2 Sanosware of Mustang in a crashed state.
Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Director General Pradeep Adhikari informed the meeting of the International Committee of parliament today that the Tara Air flight, 9N AET had met with an accident due to the inclement weather.
As per the preliminary investigation by the CAAN, the plane crashed due to bad weather.
Adhikari said that the preliminary investigation showed that the aircraft which should have made a right turn instead took a left turn due to the bad weather and crashed into a hillside.
Only 4 Mugu VDCs have roads
The CAAN director general assured of finding the truth behind the incident by forming an investigation commission and conducting further investigation.
The crash site is at a distance of eight nautical miles from the Jomsom Airport. The wreckage of the airplane was found this morning at the Sanusare cliff at Thasang Rural Municipality-2 of Mustang district.
Twenty-two people including 19 passengers and three crew members were killed in the plane crash. The plane that had taken off from Pokhara Airport at 9.55 AM, went out of contact at 10.7 AM Sunday. It was flying to Jomsom of Mustang.
Five helicopters were mobilized to search for the missing plane on Sunday soon after it was reported missing. But bad weather hampered the search. The wreckage of the plane was found early Monday.
Adverse weather impact is likely to be the primary cause of the accident, experts say. Former Director General of CAAN Raj Kumar Chhetri said that the age of the plane is not the factor for its accident. “The adverse weather on Sunday could be the reason behind the accident,” he opined. However, the reason behind the disastrous accident will be known once the investigation is over, he said.
“Our topography is mostly high hills and mountains, along with continuous changing wind and weather patterns causing difficulties for planes to maneuver around high terrains and in low visibility,” Chhetri informed Republica.
Tara Air’s 9N-AET had conducted its first flight 42 years and two months ago on April 21, 1979. It was first purchased by Air Botswana in 1979 and was later sold to Lesotho Airways in December 1983. The same plane encountered an accident after striking a tree on approach in 1984. The plane was then purchased by RRCS Air Services before it was purchased by Jetstream Aircraft Sales in 1997. The plane later entered Nepal in 1998 under its new operator Lumbini Airways but was procured by Yeti Airlines in 1999. The plane had been operated by Tara Air since April 2010.
It may be noted that Tara Air was listed as one of the ‘most dangerous airlines’ by Forbes in 2019. In the past 16 years, Tara Air has recorded five such accidents, of which two have been fatal. In December 2010, a DHC-6 twin otter with the call sign 9N-AFX crashed in Okhaldhunga district with 19 passengers and three crew members onboard. The plane had taken off from Lamidanda Airport for Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (TIA). In 2016, another DHC-6 twin otter of Tara Air with a call sign 9N-AHH had also crashed in Dana of Myagdi District, leaving no passengers alive. A total of 23 people were onboard the flight.
In 2018, another aircraft of Tara Air experienced a porpoise landing at Jumla Airport, Nepal. The plane sustained substantial damage but the passengers were unharmed. In 2017, another DHC-6 twin otter aircraft operated by Tara Air veered off during takeoff from Simikot Airport in Nepal. Reportedly the aircraft lost directional control after suffering a burst tire on takeoff. Three crew members and one passenger were injured with substantial damage to the plane as well.
In 2012, another plane of Tara Air lost directional control during takeoff from Dolpa Airport in Nepal. The left wing, no. 1 engine and wheels were damaged after impacting the perimeter wire fence, according to the database of Aviation Safety Network. Similarly, Yeti Airlines has recorded four accidents and significant incidents over the same review period. Of them, two flights resulted in a total of 27 deaths. On June 21, 2006, nine people lost their lives after an over 25-year-old DHC-6 twin otter crashed near the Jumla Airport.
Similarly, another DHC-twin otter of Yeti Airlines crashed into a rock and caught fire killing 19 passengers onboard in October 2008.
Fatal crashes involving other domestic airlines
The state-owned Nepal Airlines and Makalu Air have encountered three accidents, respectively, in the past 15 years.
In 2014, a Nepal Airline 9N-ABB flight crashed in a mountain in Sandikhark in Arghakhanchi along with 18 occupants. The plane had left for Jumla Airport from Pokhara.
Similarly in 2018, a Cessna 28 cargo flight with the call sign 9N-AJU, operated by Makalu Air crashed at around an altitude of 12,500 feet above sea level in Simikot. Two people died in the accident. The other significant incident of the two airlines, however, did not result in any fatalities.
Likewise, Sita Airline has recorded two plane accidents. In 2017, one of its planes crashed shortly after take-off from TIA. The plane was heading for Lukla Airport, carrying 19 passengers including three crew members.
In a separate air accident involving Nepal’s domestic airlines, a plane with a call sign 9N-AEK of Buddha Air had crashed into terrain on September 25 2011 in Lalitpur, killing all 19 onboard the flight.
