Aircraft down in Nepal 18 dead
Is the Nepali AIP online and open?
Most of the links on the page are broken/dead. No online AIP, although Eurocontrol suggests that it is "coming soon".
himalaya,
I agree and thanks for confirming that.
Again, I fully agree. Thanks a lot for your valuable input here.
Best regards
AN2.
There no GPS approach for Lukla and there should never be one.
Otherwise, Lukla is just like any other airport, if flown without deviating from SOPs its pefectly safe and the risks are minimized. Infact, for a person in love with flying, this is one of the most beautiful runways to take off and land.
Best regards
AN2.
- I know that Lukla is quite a solid and safe base compared to the others in Nepal. That doesn't mean that it compares well to the western world.
- I agree that in Nepal, there has to be some sort of aviation, especially for the local population. You cannot ban such airports.
I just want to WARN all people from abroad, people with maybe little knowledge of aviation and its application, to consider very carefully a trip like this. If you are climbing up an 8000m peak, you have to take that way, because everything else is way more dangerous, including your final goal. But if you are just one of the 1000's of normal trekking tourists, think about it.
- How can you say that the Twotter is more safe than the porter? Because it has two engines? A B777 is even more safe, there is no single casualty until now, still I wouldn't operate it in Lukla. The problem is the size of this airport, and the smaller you are the better your chances. It's not only the wing span and the number of engines, but also the approach speed and the turn rate. While you are unable to turn back into the valley with a full loaded Twotter, you still can try it with an overpowered PC6.
Of course the PC-6 is a great plane, I flew on it several times. So is the -12, which would probably also work up there nicely. It does fly into Courchevel all the time. With the reliability of today's turboprops, I agree that the risk of a single vs a twin up there is probably only marginally higher.
- contrary to your opinion, we also have airports like this in Europe. Mainly in the Western Alps. There are certain efforts to do line oriented commercial flights to those airports. But I as a normal tourist would also go the same risk analysis like for Nepal.
Best regards
AN2 driver.
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Makes you wonder if he tried to set himself up on the GPS on final with landing flaps and at an altitude just above the runway expecting to pop out over the threshold but misjudged the altitude.
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Indeed, it is inexpressibly sad. But you don't land in a cloud under VFR conditions, no matter if you're at JFK, LHR or Lukla.
For decades in the Canadian Arctic Islands, Twin Otters with low-pressure tundra tires have been involved in offstrip operations, landing on raised beaches, gravel pans and assorted tundra, often where no one has ever landed before. Six hundred feet of more or less level, dry ground is all you need for takeoffs and landings (1000' and you're laughing). With skilled and experienced pilots at the controls, these operations are routine. But they don't land if they can't see the ground.
Rockhound
For decades in the Canadian Arctic Islands, Twin Otters with low-pressure tundra tires have been involved in offstrip operations, landing on raised beaches, gravel pans and assorted tundra, often where no one has ever landed before. Six hundred feet of more or less level, dry ground is all you need for takeoffs and landings (1000' and you're laughing). With skilled and experienced pilots at the controls, these operations are routine. But they don't land if they can't see the ground.
Rockhound
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Another accident that shouldn't have happened.
If two other aircraft landed just prior to this one, then I really wonder what kind of conditions they had when they landed. Yes, I know conditions change, but those clouds didn't just pop up right out of the blue.
If two other aircraft landed just prior to this one, then I really wonder what kind of conditions they had when they landed. Yes, I know conditions change, but those clouds didn't just pop up right out of the blue.
Rockhound,
I agree with you. Perhaps my post should have been a little longer. My feeling of sadness was for the passengers, sitting there trusting the pilot to get them safely to the start of their trek.
I've had 20-30 hours as a passenger in a DHC-6 in the Canadian north (back in the days when Omega was a big deal), so I have some knowledge of what you are talking about.
It stuns me that a pilot on a VFR flight would deliberately fly into cloud near the threshold of a very tricky airport. I wonder if we will ever find out what was going on - was there some unofficial GPS approach procedure that routinely worked well and suckered this pilot into making an approach in worse conditions than previously experienced?
I agree with you. Perhaps my post should have been a little longer. My feeling of sadness was for the passengers, sitting there trusting the pilot to get them safely to the start of their trek.
I've had 20-30 hours as a passenger in a DHC-6 in the Canadian north (back in the days when Omega was a big deal), so I have some knowledge of what you are talking about.
It stuns me that a pilot on a VFR flight would deliberately fly into cloud near the threshold of a very tricky airport. I wonder if we will ever find out what was going on - was there some unofficial GPS approach procedure that routinely worked well and suckered this pilot into making an approach in worse conditions than previously experienced?
