Plane crash in Nepal

[rowly6339]

Anyone got any news on this? another downed plane in less than a week not good.

[fhegner]

The Himalayan Times:


All on board die as Agni Air crashes in Jomsom



KATHMANDU: Agni Airline's Jomsom-bound Air India Golf carrying 21 people on board has reportedly crashed in Jomsom.

The ill-omened plane crashed on Monday after failing in series of endeavors to land at the Jomsom Airport, a famous trekking and tourist destination in Nepal.

Police and Army personnel along with locals have reached to the site of crash to carry out the rescue operation.

Update 11:03 nepal time:


KATHMANDU: Sixteen people have been feared dead as the Agni Airline's Jomsom-bound 9N Air India Golf (AIG) carrying 21 people on board crashed in Jomsom.

The ill-fated plane, carrying 18 passengers and three crew members crashed on Monday at 9:30 am, while trying to land at the Jomsom Airport, a famous trekking and tourist destination.

Five passengers including two children, two foreigners and an air hostess have been rescued, police said.

It has been also learnt that seven bodies of Indian nationals have been found near the crash site.

[david1300]

Sad to hear, but there are conflicting reports regarding casualties. Even the report headed All on board die as Agni Air crashes in Jomsom then goes on to report 6 survivors.

From Australian news (Sydney Morning Herald):

Fifteen people were killed when a Dornier plane with 21 people on board crashed near Jomsom in Nepal today, the nation's civil aviation authority said.
Six survivors were shifted to a nearby hospital, said Tri Ratna Manandhar, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal in a telephone interview with Bloomberg. As many as 16 people on the plane were Indian nationals, he said.
Police spokesman Binod Singh told AFP that at least 11 people had been killed when the Agni Air plane carrying 21 people plunged into a hill close to Jomsom near the Annapurna mountain range.
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The six survivors included two children.
"The plane was about to land at Jomsom airport. It hit a muddy slope and is now buried in the side of the hill," Singh said.
He said there had been an unknown number of foreign passengers on board.
The Press Trust of India news agency reported that four Indians were among the dead.
Singh said the aircraft had been carrying 18 passengers and three crew members.


Read more: Six survive Nepal air crash, 15 dead: aviation authority (http://www.smh.com.au/world/six-survive-nepal-air-crash-15-dead-aviation-authority-20120514-1ymfs.html#ixzz1up8ZGW5S)

[Wilkesy]

Here is some more stuff on it

Six survive Nepal air crash, 15 dead: aviation authority (http://www.smh.com.au/world/six-survive-nepal-air-crash-15-dead-aviation-authority-20120514-1ymfs.html)

[fhegner]

More here:

The Himalayan Times : 15 dead as Agni Air plane crashes in Jomsom - Detail News : Nepal News Portal (http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=15+dead+as+Agni+Air+plane+crashes+in+J omsom+&NewsID=331952&a=3)

[The Ancient Geek]

Everyone tries to fly safely but Nepal is perhaps the most challenging place to fly. Flying through mountain valleys into short strips with no prospect of a go around may be scenic but unpredictable mountain weather which can change in minutes can bite even the best pilots.
Random wind changes including mountain rotors and sudden downdrafts on approach can spoil the best of plans.

If you think Nepal's aviation safety is bad just take a look at the roads, it is far safer to fly despite the regular accidents.

[jackcarls0n]

As per the info-The captain reported a technical problem with the tower and was trying to turn inside the valley to divert back to pokhara airport and ended up hitting the side of hill.

Few survivors including the air hostess.

[BUSHJEPPY]

A 9N-AIG Dornier of Agni Air crashed in Marfa VDC-5 near Jomsom Airport in Mustang district on Monday, killing 15 people. Six people survived the crash.
Airline officials said 18 passengers and three crew members were on board the flight that had left Pokhara for Jomsom.
This is Agni Air’s second crash with casualties within less then two years. Pilot-in-command Prabhu Sharan Pathak and co-pilot Suman Dongol Maharjan and 13 Indians died in the chartered flight, government officials said. Jomsom Airport officials said the crash occurred at an elevation of 2,824 metres. Two Danes, R Andreas and T Emilie, three Indians—Tirumala Kidambi Sreekanth, Tirumala Kidambi Sreevardhini and Tirumala Kidambi Sreepada—and air hostess Roshani Haiju were the survivors. The crash occurred shortly after the captain reported some ‘light indication problem’ in the cockpit to the air traffic control (ATC) in Jomsom before landing. “The pilot-in-command contacted the air traffic control room at 9: 46 am,” said Shiva Sharma Upadhaya, ATC chief at Jomsom Airport. Subsequently, the captain informed the ATC that he was diverting the plane to Pokhara from over the runway.*
Officials said the captain may have feared landing as the light indicator was not working properly and that could sometimes lead to the wheels “locking up” while landing. “All the things happened within 40 seconds when the captain decided to divert the aircraft and made a sharp turn,” Upadhaya said, adding that the plane’s wing and nose hit a hillock while turning and
then dipped into a gorge nearby.
The pilot may have become nervous as he did not follow the “standard procedures” when diverting the plane, sources said. “The pilot should have turned the aircraft to the right of the runway where there was enough space, but instead the plane turned left to the narrow valley,” the sources claimed.
As the impact of the crash was less on the rear side of the aircraft, 10 people had survived, four of whom died later, Upadhaya said.*
“Had it been a wide turn instead of a sharp one, all the passengers would have been safe,” Upadhaya said.
Meanwhile, in separate statements, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and the Indian Embassy expressed condolences to families who lost their loved ones in the tragic incident and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured.
PROBE COMMITTEE FORMED
The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) has formed a five-member committee under former Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Medini Prasad Sharma, to investigate the crash.
Senior captain Sunil Pradhan of Buddha Air; senior engineer Ashok Maharjan of Tara Air and Dr Ranjit Singh Baral, coordinator of the Aviation Medical Board, are members of the panel. Joint-secretary at the MoTCA Suresh Acharya is the member-secretary of the panel. The committee has been given 90 days to file a report.
*Air hostess, two Danes, three Indians survive accident**
*Dornier craft was headed for Jomsom from Pokhara

[Zet41]

In this crash left propeller is in feather condition, in slow speed may be left engine failed and aircraft swing to left and there is no other option then making steep left turn.
If it's just a landing light problem there are many other option for safely fly back to pokhara.

[ATC Watcher]

Zet 41 ,are you sure about the feathered engine ? if what you say is true, turning on a dead engine on a twin at low altitude has killed many before...

[aterpster]

As someone else stated earlier it seems that turbine-powered rotorcraft capable of operating at the density altitudes involved, would be the safer plan for this location.

They must have hit pretty softly in relative terms for there to have been six survivors.

[Swiss Cheese]

I note the last fatal crash that Agni Air had (another Dornier) involved a Gene failure, and then the crew did not follow the emergency checklist to preserve the remaining power from the battery.

This new loss appears to involve another technical issue, followed by questionable adherence to the emergency checklist.


Two fatal crashes in as many years, and more broken families. This is not a terrain problem, but something more systemic.

Condolence to all the families.

[henra]

Two fatal crashes in as many years, and more broken families. This is not a terrain problem, but something more systemic.


It appears that in regions where flying is much more challenging and 'non-standard' that adherance to checklists in general seems to take a bit of a back seat. (Because here things are totally different anyway...)

While that might still be OK in some instances with regard to the flying itself (being compensated by specific experience) it will catch you out once the aircraft systems come into play. There is no 'seat of the pants' being able to replace detailed systems knowledge and adherance to checklists when it coems to equipment failures. Way to many interdependencies and less than obvious side effects.

Try applying common sense in a systems failure instead of sticking to the checklist and be fatally surprised by non- common sense compliant behaviour of the systems themselves.

[Zet41]

ATC Watcher, Due to propeller condition it's looks like that. Otherwise no one turn left from that position. Pilot also reported technical and diverting to Pokhara. Just after 1 minute of reporting technical they crash..!!

[ATC Watcher]

Thanks zet41, I was only puzzled by the decision to turn , possibly steeply on the side of the feathered engine . While it would appear logical it is in fact a possibly deadly combination . If your info is correct , Going around on one engine at such density altitude and inside a valley is another bad combination .