Pilot’s fault in Jomsom crash
The government formed an accident investigation commission under the chairmanship of Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, former director general of Nepal Civil Aviation Authority on May 30 last year.
KATHMANDU: The Accident Investigation Commission found crew error in the Tara Air TwinOtter plane that crashed in Jomsom, Mustang.
Such an error was discovered in the Commission’s final report, which was submitted to Sudan Kirati, Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation.
Tara Air’s TwinOtter 9N-ATIRDHC 6-300 aircraft crashed on May 29, 2022, while flying from Pokhara to Jomsom, killing 22 people, including the crew. The plane crashed near the Manapathi Himal in Mustang.
According to the report, the ‘Terrain Avoidance and Warning System’ (TWS), which provides information about the hill ahead and its risks, was turned off. Because of this, the crew could not get the information that there is a mountain ahead of the aircraft.
The government formed an accident investigation commission under the chairmanship of Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, former director general of Nepal Civil Aviation Authority on May 30 last year.
The members of the commission were Captain Deepu Jwarchan, Senior Maintenance Engineer Upendralal Shrestha, Senior Meteorologist Mani Ratna Shakya and Member Secretary Budhisagar Lamichhane.
According to the commission’s member secretary, Buddhisagar Lamichhane, the crew’s error was discovered in the accident. It has been stated that the ship crashed into a mountain due to the failure of the ship’s system to function properly.
If the aircraft had continued to fly without turning off the TWS system, the crew would have received a warning 2 minutes before the accident. As a result, there was a chance of an accident.
The pilot couldn’t see the front view properly as of the bad weather. According to the report, the ship crashed because the crew did not adhere to the company’s flight standards.
The Commission has prepared a report in accordance with international standards, with the assistance of the National Transportation Safety Board of America.
According to the commission’s statement, the report will be sent to the relevant countries and bodies, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, for review after 60 days, and then made public for everyone’s information.
