2006 Yeti Airlines Twin Otter Crash
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The aircraft, 9N-AEQ, five years prior to the incident (then operated by Skyline Airways)
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| Accident summary | |
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| Date | 21 June 2006 |
| Summary | Controlled Flight Into Terrain |
| Site | Jumla Airport,, Nepal |
| Passengers | 6 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 9 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter |
| Operator | Yeti Airlines |
| Registration | 9N-AEQ |
| Flight origin | Nepalgunj Airport, Nepalgunj |
| Stopover | Surkhet Airport, Surkhet/Birendranagar |
| Destination | Jumla Airport, Jumla |
On 21 June 2006, a Yeti Airlines DHC-6 Twin Otter crashed into the ground after after the crew decided to abort the landing and perform a go-aroud for an unknown reason. Eye-witnesses said that the plane appeared to have stalled while making a tight turn on the threshold of runway 27 and ploughed into the ground in a ball of fire on the eastern edge of the runway.[1][2]
Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the crash was a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Yeti Airlines. Its maiden flight was in 1980 with Lesotho Airways. The aircraft was purchased by Yeti Airlines one year prior to the accidentfrom another Nepalese carrier, Skyline Airways[3] It was the third incident of this aircraft operated by Yeti Airlines and was one of four Twin Otters in the airline’s fleet[4][5]
Crew and Passengers
There were six passengers on board the aircraft as well as three crew members. All occupants on board died in the crash. The three crew members were identified as Capt Krishna Malla, co-pilot Dipak Pokhrel and flight attendant Dipak Sherchan.[2]
Incident
The Twin Otter operated by Yeti Airlines departed Nepalgunj Airport for a flight to Jumla Airport via Surkhet Airport on a passenger and cargo flight on 21 June 2006. The flight took off from Surket at 11:35 am with 6 passengers and three crew members, as well as cargo on board. The weather report at Jumla at that time was fair with bright sunshine and slow wind. The wind direction had changed at the time of take off. The aircraft left Surkhet valley and established contact with Nepalgunj Tower as per normal procedure. At 11:49 am the aircraft reported to air traffic control again. At 11:55 am, the aircraft established contact with Jumla air traffic control and received weather and airport information. The pilot reported turning final at 12:01 pm. The aircraft appeared on final approach with high speed. The captain carried out missed approach without informing Jumla control tower. He coordinated his position and intention to land with the pilot of a Sita Air plane which was to land 7 minutes after the Yeti Airlines aircraft.. The captain flew over to the right of Jumla control tower, while executing the missed approach and headed towards a hill. The captain then made a sharp left turn with a high bank angle with an intention to land on runway 27 while informing to vacate the runway for trailing Sita aircraft. During this process the aircraft lost speed as well as altitude considerably and hit the paddy field to the east of the airport. The Twin Otter bounced up and traversed a further 200 feet approximately or so ultimately hitting a terrace, cart wheeled came to rest turning 180 degrees with tail section twisted. It instantly caught fire.[1]
Aftermath
The report of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal on the crash concluded that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot's attempt to make a sudden go-around while getting tooclose to the runway threshold with a very low circuit altitude and subsequent attempt to turn in a tight circuit with excessive angle of bank that led to a stall. The aircraft subsequently contacted terrain due to insufficient clearance available for effective stall recovery. The quick decisions to change runway added to the crew workload at a critical period which was aggravated by the breakdown of cockpit discipline.
The other contributory factors leading to the accident were:
- Violation of company Standard Operating Procedures by the pilots,
- Insufficient monitoring of its flight training program and line operations by Yeti Airlines' management, and
- Inadequate oversight of Yeti Airlines by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
