Plane crash in Nepal
 

'Plane crash' at Nepal's Kathmandu airport - BBC News

A plane has crashed at Kathmandu's international airport, local media report.

A plane from a Bangladeshi airline crashed on the east side of Tribhuvan International Airport's runway, the Kathmandu Post reported.

An airport spokesperson told the paper that casualties were feared.

Photos and video posted on social media showed smoke rising from an airport runway.

'Plane crash' at Nepal's Kathmandu airport
 

'Plane crash' at Nepal's Kathmandu airport - BBC News
Reports of Bangladeshi aircraft crash.

This article has a picture of smoke in the distance:

US-Bangla airlines aircraft crashes at TIA - National - The Kathmandu Post

It gives the ACID as S2-AGU

It also says the aircraft crashed into a football ground near the airport.

DH-8 Q400 S2-AGU

Terrible fire photos on here https://www.facebook.com/AIRLINESECRETS/

A plane has crashed at Kathmandu's international airport, local media say.

The plane from US-Bangla, a Bangladeshi airline, went off the runway while landing and crashed on the east side of Tribhuvan International Airport's runway, the Kathmandu Post reported. An airport spokesperson told the paper that casualties were feared.

The plane can reportedly carry 78 passengers and firefighters were at the scene trying to extinguish a fire, local news site My Republica reported.
Photos and video posted on social media showed smoke rising from an airport runway.

The plane was identified in local media as S2-AGU, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, but this has not been officially confirmed.
The flight landed at TIA airport, also known as Kathmandu International Airport, at 14:20 local time (08:35 GMT), according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

According to airport spokesperson Prem Nath Thakur, the aircraft careened off the runway during landing and crashed onto a football ground near TIA. The aircraft took off from Dhaka and landed at TIA at 2:20 pm.
US-Bangla Airlines commenced operations with domestic flights on 17 July 2014. It is a subsidiary of US-Bangla Group, a United States-Bangladesh joint venture company
Serial number 4041
Type DHC-8 402
Registration S2-AGU
Plane age 16.8 years

67 pax on board

About 67 passengers were thought to be on board, officials told the BBC. The number of casualties is unconfirmed.
Seventeen people on board have been rescued so far, the authorities say.

The Grauniad have it as "Nepali police said at least 38 were killed and 23 injured, with another 10 people still unaccounted for."

With video of the aftermath. https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ashes-in-nepal

An unbelievable ATC transcript is just online at Jacdec
2018-03-18 US Bangla DHC-8-400 crashed on landing Kathmandu » JACDEC

The transcript is based on LiveATC recordings, I just had a listen and the transcript appears correct. Astounding.

easy enough to operate in and out of there as long as procedures are followed and ATC communications are made clearly and in standard phraseology, never had an issue

ATC Radio Transcript Kathmandu-Tower

(Note: this transcript is inofficial and can contain inadequate data)

BS211(female voice): „Good day, BanglaStar211 final runway 02.“
KTH-Tower: „BanglaStar211, tower. Wind 220 degrees eight knots, tailwind component seven knots, continue approach.“
BS211(female voice): „Continue approach BanglaStar 211.“
..
KTH-Tower: „BanglaStar211, wind 220 degrees seven knots, talwind component six knots, you’re cleared to land.“
BS211(female voice): „Cleared to land, BanglaStar 211.“
..
KTH-Tower: „BanglaStar211, tower?“
BS211(female voice): „Go ahead, sir.“
BS211(male voice): „Go ahead, mam‘.“
KTH-Tower: „BanglaStar211, you were given a landing clearance to runway 02.“
BS211(male voice): „Affirmative, mam.“
KTH-Tower: „You are going towards runway 20.“
BS211(male voice): „..(garbled transmission)..to runway 02.“
KTH-Tower (different voice): „…211, runway 20, cleared to land.“
BS211(male voice): „..cleared to land..(unintelligible).“
..
KTH-Tower (different voice): „BanglaStar211, Kathmandu Tower“
BS211(male voice): „Go ahead“
KTH-Tower (different voice): „BanglaStar211, request your intentions.“
BS211(male voice): „..(unintelligible)..“
KTH-Tower (different voice): “ BanglaStar211, that would be VFR.“
BS211(male voice): „Affirmative“
KTH-Tower (different voice): “ 211 join a ri…ehm..right downwind to runway 20.“
BS211(male voice): „Copied.“
KTH-Tower (different voice): “ …right downwind runway 02..“
..
Tower cleares another aircraft (Buddha282) to land on runway 02.
..
KTH-Tower: „And BanglaStar 211, traffic at final eh..runway 02 at two miles, report sighting.“
BS211(male voice): „Copied, Sir. We’ll be at (..) runway 02.“
KTH-Tower: „Confirm you’re tracking towards runway 20 ?“
BS211(male voice): „Affirmative.“
KTH-Tower: „Right..left, right downwind runway 02, I say again Bangla 212 traffic is on final runway 02 landing on runway 02.“
BS211(male voice): „Copied Sir“
..
Tower confirmed landing clearance for the other aircraft (Buddha282) to land on runway 02.
..
KTH-Tower: „211 I say it again, do not proceed towards runway 20. Cleared to hold at your current position.“
BS211(male voice): „Okay, we’re making an orbit to the right, copied ?“
BS211(male voice): „Tower, 211, making a right holding, right holding for runway 02.“
KTH-Tower: „Okay that’s good but do not land. Traffic is on short final runway 02.“
BS211(male voice): „We have that, Sir copied. (unintelligible) we’re cleared to land“
..
KTH-Tower: „..BanglaStar211, runway..eh..cleared to land. Runway is vacated, either runway 02 or 20 ?“
BS211(male voice): „Yes Siur, we like to land on 20.“
KTH-Tower: „Okay runway 20, cleared to land. Wind is 270 degrees, six knots.“
BS211(male voice): „260 copied, cleared to land.“
KTH-Tower: „BanglaStar211, confirm you have the runway in sight?“
BS211(male voice): „Negative, Sir.“
KTH-Tower: „BanglaStar211, turn right and ah..you have the runway, confirm you have the runway not in sight, yet ?“
BS211(male voice): „Affirmative, we have (..) runway in sight. Requesting clear to land, Sir.“
KTH-Tower: „And BanglaStar211, cleared to land.“
BS211(male voice): „Cleared to land runway 02, BanglaStar212.“
KTH-Tower: „Roger, ruway 02, cleared to land, BanglaStar211.“
..
BS211(male voice): „..sir, are we cleared to land ?“
KTH-Tower: „BanglaStar211, I say again..turn… (yelling in background).“
..
(end of BS211 transmissions)


http://www.jacdec.de/WP/wp-content/u...mandu_MAP1.jpg

I hope that isn't correct...............

I would like to hear the tape instead on relying on the transcript as there are a lot of (...) and (unintelligible) , anyone can post the link ?
From what I know of KTM ( been there quite a few times) , turboprop OPS are all VFR , not sure about international ones however. But a remark by the ATC supervisor ( or coach) seems to indicate they were VFR :
The METAR indicate only CBs and few, but haze/mist is very common heavily reducing visibility , especially facing sun.

I cleaned up the last part which is important ; I doubt they were all the time VMC , and making a visual approach in partial IMC appears to be problem , as to to disorientation a to which runway they were going to use . or saw in the end.

For me , it looks like there might have been another technical or physical issue (Hypoxia?) , not reported to ATC, that could explain such erratic behavior, that you could see from a solo fight in a C152 that lost VMC than from an ATPL of an International airline.

That transcript is one of the most disturbing things that I've read in a long time. I would expect a higher level of performance from a student before going solo

[QUOTE=Heathrow Harry;10081041]I hope that isn't correct...............[/QUOTE

If that is correct it would appear to be a stall then crash from right about the place they would have been maneuvering when told to enter right downwind for 02, then “hold” then deciding to go to 02, then back to 20

As I already mentioned, it's on LiveATC.
You can find it here: https://www.liveatc.net/archive.php
Kathmandu is VNKT and the relevant times are the 0800-0830 and 0830-0900 clips.

[quote=ironbutt57;10081078]
and thats from the transcript AND live ATC...they seem to match

Thanks Nemrytter. I will check .
In the meantime the death toll is rising to 49 and the blame game has started .
Kathmandu airport crash: At least 40 dead as US-Bangla plane veers off runway - BBC News

The plane was carrying 67 passengers and four crew.

It is now known that 33 of the passengers were Nepalis, 32 were Bangladeshi, one was Chinese and one was from the Maldives. Among the 22 people injured, some are in a critical condition.

One of the survivors, Nepalese travel agent Basanta Bohora, described from his hospital bed what he had experienced. After a normal take-off from Dhaka, the plane had begun to behave strangely as it approached Kathmandu, he said.
"All of a sudden the plane shook violently and there was a loud bang afterwards," he was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.
"I was seated near the window and was able to break out of the window," he added.
"I have no recollection after I got out of the plane, someone took me to Sinamangal Hospital, and from there my friends brought me to Norvic [Hospital]. I have injuries to my head and legs, but I am fortunate that I survived."

The aircraft was permitted to land from the southern side of the runway flying over Koteshwor, but it landed from the northern side," Sanjiv Gautam, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post."We are yet to ascertain the reason behind the unusual landing."

However, US-Bangla Airlines chief executive Imran Asif has blamed Kathmandu air traffic control. "There were wrong directions from the tower. Our pilot was not at fault," he told reporters at his office in Dhaka.


Airport general manager Raj Kumar Chettri told Reuters news agency that the plane hit the airport fence before touching the ground. The pilot told flight controllers that everything was OK soon before landing, but did not reply when told his alignment was not correct, he said.

However, US-Bangla Airlines chief executive Imran Asif has blamed Kathmandu air traffic control. "There were wrong directions from the tower. Our pilot was not at fault," he told reporters at his office in Dhaka.

ATC transcripts and recordings seem to contradict that

This is what the guys flying/on ground at KTM are saying. Ok so firstly, VNKT has VFR traffic holding inside the valley. They keep the approach and go around path for the cleared approach clear of all traffic. The A/C was cleared for a VOR DME 02, it decided to circle sometime on the approach. Obvious confusion when the crew said they want to circle. That would bring the head on to the traffic behind.

They circled to the right for RW20, there’s some high terrain on left base RW20 and apparently some Wx as well. From the picture posted above, the taxiways from North to South are A, B, C, D, E. When you land RW02 and exit on B, straight ahead is the domestic apron. To put things into perspective, the a/c was over the domestic apron very low and in a steep turn. It touched down near taxiway C almost taking out Malindo who had pushed back from the international apron and came to a stop at the point marked above. The trajectory reported makes sense if you look at the picture. That part about the ATC yelling is probably when they saw it turning over the domestic apron towards the apron/ terminal and tower. Terrible day for all. Speedy recovery to all those fighting for their lives.

I have to say I’m having trouble understanding the transcript without a trace of their flightpath. Flightradar24 unfortunately stops after the hold which is to the South (extended centreline of 02). So why did ATC think they were approaching 20? Solely on the RT transmissions or from their radar (if they have it)? I wonder if they were intending to break off and fly a circle to land on 20 to avoid the tailwind but it’s a big runway and shouldn't be an issue for a turboprop. And the vis is reasonable at 7km. (Edited to say I crossed with the post above which seems to confirm they circled for 20). Why do a complicated circling approach with a 6-7kt tailwind on 02 which is 3000m? You could do that on a 747.

Listened to the 2 tapes on LiveATC. Slight differences with the transcript, e.g it is not " BanglaStar211, that would be VFR.“ but " BanglaStar211 confirm you are VFR".
and the (unintelligible) after the " request your intentions ": is "I would like to land on runway 02 "
But it does not change the overall picture. However the sound of the voice of the Captain , and the pace of delivery, would coincide with s being incapacitated , possibly Hypoxia as I indicated earlier, or another reason. But it would be easy for pilots of the airline that know him if this was his " normal" voice to clear this possibility.

But a circling approach takes quite a lot of mental capacity to perform. If you were partially incapacitated wouldn’t you just land straight ahead on the runway which is simple (02)?

Heathrow Harry

I'm with you

Is the confusion over runway 02 and its heading of 20 degrees?

just for a sidenote: both flightcrew and ATC transmissions changed from female to male when things became abnormal.

I think the confusion is initially that they are planning to approach 02 but land on 20. Later I think the pilot may just have mis-spoke under high workload as the brain easily confuses 02 with 20 (unlike 27 and 09 for instance). I think the crew were always planning to circle but didn’t communicate this well to ATC.

Seeing that hypoxia was discussed as a possible contributing cause, here´s a few words on the bleed air and pressurisation systems of the DH8D.

For most practical aspects, those systems work as on most other types. Bleed air is routed from the low or high pressure ports of the engines (automatically selected depending on power setting) via two air conditioning packs to the flight deck and cabin. Cabin pressure is then regulated via two outflow valves in the rear bulkhead; there is another outflow valve in the forward bulkhead in front of the flight deck that is only manually adjusted in case the automatic pressure regulator fails. So far, so normal.

Depending on the exact status of the DH8 and the supplements the airline bought from Bombardier, the exact use of the system may vary.

a. Takeoff with bleeds OFF. In this case, bleeds are selected ON at 400´AAL and then the pressurisation is scheduled as normal.

b. Takeoff with bleeds ON. This requires buying a supplement but restricts the performance a bit. The relevant supplement is not compatible with the one allowing reduced takeoff power, so a takeoff with bleeds on will be "Normal Takeoff Power" (NTOP, equals to TOGA on other types) at all times. Performance calculations require assuming an increment of 12°C on the actual OAT in this case.

Also, there is a switch on the pressurisation control panel that has been somewhat unimaginatively named the "AUTO-MAN-DUMP" switch. In Auto mode, pressure control is automatic; in MAN, it is as may be expected manual. Selecting DUMP will open the rear outflow valve and no differential pressure will show up. This switch is sometimes set to DUMP by maintenance; resetting it is part of a proper cockpit preparation. There is no indication showing the position of the switch apart from its position and the effects of the selection made. If during climb no pressurisation takes place, it will be felt in the ears (the DH8D reaches FL250 in ten minutes without any problems) and shown on the cabin pressurisation indications. Only when the cabin altitude reaches 13.500ft, there will be a triple chime, the master warning will flash and a red "CABIN PRESS" warning light will come on. This triggers memory items including donning the oxygen mask. With the switch on DUMP, the cabin will climb at the aircrafts rate; with the switch on MAN/AUTO and the bleeds forgotten in OFF, the climb rate will be substantially less.

Any DH8D pilot worth his salt knows this and has operated the switches many times. So in case the pressurisation looks and/or feels weird, a look at these 3 switches is completely logical for a not completely inexperienced crew and may even happen before any QRH is taken out.

So I dare say I´d be completely surprised if this suspicion was to hold any water.

I don’t hear any sign of incapacitation on the transcript. And the confusion with ATC and which runway they’re landing on seems a bit of a side show. That doesn’t cause an aircraft to do what it did. Although there are signs of overload and probably loss of SA towards the end but suspect it may have been a fairly normal circling approach until the final turn.

from a FR24 tweet "https://twitter.com/flightradar24/status/973145006574854144"
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DYFNWU4W4AArpef.jpg:large
altitude profile

airport altitude 4400 ft

edit: remove obnoxious auto twitter insert
and because i can't post a simple link to twitter you will have to copy that link instead of clicking it :)

Listen to the recordings, it's confusion all the way and I don't think it's ATC that's caused it.

Was the Captain Male or female? It would be unusual for the handling pilot to make RT calls on approach. If so perhaps indicates the co-pilot was out of the loop on what was going on?

Here are the two ATC files. Note there is some overlap between the two.

http://archive-server.liveatc.net/vn...2018-0800Z.mp3

21:50 Communication with Approach

Handoff to Tower is missing

24:20 Contact with Tower

http://archive-server.liveatc.net/vn...2018-0830Z.mp3

03:20 Last communication

The female pilot sounds very clear, but the male pilot’s voice sounds slurred to me.

An early media analysis of the cause of the mishap:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/...090642034.html

As Strother Martin famously said in a movie "What we've got here is failure to communicate".

Hi all.

- In my airline, we do reduce power take off with the bleed on, no problems for that.

- And we have the cabin press warning at 9800ft.

Personally I don't believe in any hypoxia from the crew, they did more than 1hr cruise at 24000Ft, if took off with switch in the dump position, problems would have come sooner ... And I read airport is 4400ft ? So no really high ...

They just got confused with what to do, rwy 02, rwy 20, maybe did a circle to land not briefed so bringing more confusion in the cockpit
For example, FO think they will land 02, but captain start to break for the circling because of habit, or tired, ... ATC confused, crew confused, lost of visual conditions ... We know what it can lead to ...

Sadely for all those lives lost ...

It is a bit more than miscommunications I am afraid . . after all whatever the sense of the runway they was approaching it was free from obstacles and , seen the length of it, they should have made it whether it was 02 or 20. If as reported by witnesses they went over the terminal , then veered left over C in the other direction , and stalled in a steep turn , for me it is definitively more than miscommunications with ATC.

As to the Hypoxia theory, thanks for the technical explanation on the DH8. it is just that the voice and the speech delivery reminds me of this from my days in the military., where we practiced it in the decompression chamber. it could be intoxication due another source..or the guy could well speak "normally" like this .

Maybe the pilot felt uneasy with the tailwind component on 02. But hard to believe they would go to the opposite runway without giving any indication to ATC in particular after the exchange:
KTM-Tower: "BanglaStar211, wind 220 degrees seven knots, tailwind component six knots, runway 02 you're cleared to land."
BS211(female voice): "Cleared to land, BanglaStar 211.