Yeti Airlines Flight 101

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Yeti Airlines Flight 101
File:Our plane arrives!.jpg
9N-AFE at Lukla in 2007
Accident summary
Date 8 October 2008
Summary Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error and inclement weather
Site Lukla Airport, Nepal
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Passengers 16
Crew 3
Injuries (non-fatal) 1
Fatalities 18
Survivors 1
Aircraft type De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
Operator Yeti Airlines
Registration 9N-AFE
Flight origin Kathmandu Airport, Nepal
Destination Lukla Airport, Nepal

Yeti Airlines Flight 101 was a domestic flight in Nepal, that crashed on final approach to Tenzing-Hillary Airport in the town of Lukla in eastern Nepal on 8 October 2008. The De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 300 registered as 9N-AFE originated from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.[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 Bristow Helicopters. The aircraft entered into service in Nepal in 1997, when Lumbini Airways acquired the plane. In 1998, Yeti Airlines bought the plane. In 2006, it already met with a minor incident, when the aircraft collided with a fence upon landing in Bajura Airport. It was involved in another incident, when the aircraft veered off the runway at Surkhet Airport in 2007.[3]

Crew and Passengers

Fourteen of the dead were reported to be tourists. Twelve of the passengers on the flight were German and two Australian. The only survivor was Surendra Kunwar, the captain of the aircraft, who was dragged free from the wreckage shortly after the crash and was flown to Kathmandu for emergency treatment.[1][4][5]

Nationality Fatalities Survivors Total
Passengers Crew Passengers Crew
Nepal 1 2 – 1 4
Germany 12 – 0 – 12
Australia 2 – 0 – 2

The pilot, being the only survivor, suffered psychological problems in the aftermath and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.[6]

Crash

The airport is the main access to the Mount Everest region in Nepal, and is a notoriously difficult landing, with only 1,500 feet (460 m) of steeply sloped runway just 65 feet (20 m) wide and a steep approach path.[7]

Due to bad weather conditions and heavy fog, the pilot lost visual contact, nevertheless attempted a visual approach, as there are no Instrument landing systems installed at Lukla. The aircraft came in too low and too far left, which caused the aircraft to crash short of the runway, as the landing gear got caught in a perimeter fence on airport grounds.[8]

Investigation

A commission was formed to investigate the accident, the final report being published two months later. However, the report only came to wider attention when The Aviation Herald retrieved a copy of it in 2017. The report blamed the crash on the flight crew's misinterpretation of how fast the weather would deteriorate and their expectation of a cloud patch on final approach, which had been reported by previous flights landing in Lukla. Contributing factors included the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and Yeti Airlines both having a poor oversight of pilots deviating from standard operation procedures, the failure of the Automatic Flight Information Service personnel to close the airport as a result of a high work load and stress, and Yeti Airlines going as far as to prioritize economics over safety, leading to improper crew training.[9]

Aftermath

File:Lukla - Tenzing-Hillary Airport - Memorial for 2008-10-08 disaster.jpg
Yeti Airlines Flight 101 Memorial

The safety regulations at Lukla airport were enhanced and landings in bad weather restricted. A plaque was put up near the crash site and the local people celebrate the victims' memory every year on 8 October.[6]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Bloomberg: Nepal Plane Crash Kills 18; Most Were German Tourists 8 October 2008
  5. ↑ Matt Johnston, David Hastie "Everest plane crash claims Australian couple" Archived 11 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine Herald Sun 9 October 2008
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ "Everest plane crash kills 18 tourists in Nepal" Archived 11 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Agence France-Presse 8 October 2008
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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