Fourteen killed in plane crash

KATHMANDU, Aug 25: A German-built Dornier aircraft operated by Agni Air crashed at Shikharpur of Makawanpur district Tuesday morning while returning to Kathmandu after being unable to land at Lukla airport because of inclement weather.

All 14 on board, including five Nepali passengers, three Nepali crew members, four Americans, a Japanese youth, and a Briton were killed in the crash.

Though bad weather has been blamed for the crash, technical failure has not been ruled out. The government has formed a five-member committee headed by aviation expert Kumar Prasad Upadhyay to probe the crash and submit a report within 65 days.

After more than eight hours of continuous effort by a team of the Nepal Army and Nepal Police that was hindered by heavy downpour, body parts of the deceased were airlifted to Kathmandu Tuesday evening and sent to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for postmortem.

From Kathmandu to Shikharpur

The AG 101 flight was the first among about two dozen flights scheduled for Lukla on Tuesday.

“It was given a go ahead as Kathmandu´s visibility was 2,000 meters and VFR condition at Lukla was six kilometers,” said Purushottam Shakya, manager of Kathmandu airport´s Rescue Coordination Center that oversaw rescue efforts.

Such weather conditions are considered safe for aircraft installed with International Flight Rules (IFR) equipment.

The Agni Air turboprop with registration number 9N-AHE left Kathmandu at 7:04 am, after which a Buddha Air mountain flight also left for the Everest region.

But weather condition at Lukla worsened while the two aircraft were airborne and crew members of both were instructed to fly back to Kathmandu using the south route, also known as Radial 202 Route.

“The south route via Makawanpur is a common route in such situations,” Shakya said.

While the Buddha Air flight returned safely to Kathmandu, the Agni Air turboprop never arrived.

Flight crew reported to the tower for the last time at 7:26 am saying the flight was returning to Kathmandu.

The aircraft´s communication equipment was having problems right since take off on Tuesday. The crew had been told to report every five minutes. But they were barely managing to follow the instructions owing to unexplained temporary breakdowns of the communication equipment.

“But it couldn´t have led to the crash,” Shakya said.

Within minutes of the last contact with the tower, the aircraft crashed at Shikharpur of Makawanpur district. The crash site is 18 aeronautical miles (36 kilometers) south of Kathmandu. By road, the crash site is located approximately 100 kilometers from Kathmandu.

Following the crash, about two dozen flights to Lukla were delayed.

At Shikharpur

The aircraft crashed in front of Thakur Primary School at around 7:30 am, according to the school´s principal Rajdev Mahato.

“The flying aircraft suddenly crashed and exploded,” Mahato said, adding, “Some pieces of the aircraft reached the school.”

The crash left a seven feet deep crater, according to Mahato, who reached the site within five minutes of the crash.

Police deployed from Phaparbari and Hattisunde of Makawanpur district and Gimdi of Lalitpur district struggled to reach the site owing to bad weather as it had been raining in the district for three days, according to Superintendent of Police Ram Prasad Shrestha of Makawanpur.

The police personnel had to trek for more than two hours to reach the site, according to Sub-Inspector Indra Bhujel who reached the site for rescue from Phaparbari.

Shrestha said a Fishtail Air chopper reached the site at around 11 am. An army chopper landed at nearby Malta village at 12:30 p.m. and reached the crash site late in the afternoon with rescue specialists from Nepal Army and Nepal Police. An army team from a base in Phaparbari also reached the site later.

According to Shrestha, the crash site is surrounded by hills. There is a human settlement just 50 meters from the crash site.

Locals said the area located between the Chure and Mahabharat hill range has been witnessing dense fog for the past three days.

Mortal remains

Rescue workers brought the remains of the crash victims in two choppers to Kathmandu Tuesday evening.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and the ambassadors of the United States, Britain, and Japan were at the airport when the choppers arrived.

Laxman Bhattarai, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Ministry, said the remains would be handed over to family members of the deceased after postmortem.

In a statement, the US embassy offered its condolences to the families of victims and said it stands ready to assist the government of Nepal.

“The embassy has contacted the next of kin of the four American citizens who lost their lives in this tragic accident,” the statement said.

Tuesday was also the birthday of one of the crash victims, Irina Shekhets of the United States. She had turned 20 Tuesday.

Three survived tragedy

The aircraft was scheduled to carry 14 passengers to Lukla, but only 11 passengers turned up. The three who survived the tragedy are NL Sherpa, K Rai and P Wolf.

(With inputs from Upendra Lamichhane)

Crash victims
1. Ishwari Rijal, Nepal (Dhading)
2. Ashamari Rai, Nepal (Solukhumbu)
3. Prakash Amgai (32), Nepal (Gorkha)
4. P Sherpa, Nepal (Solukhumbu)
5. Pemba Norbu Sherpa, Nepal (Sankhuwasabha)
6. Yuki Hayashe (19), Japan
7. Jeremy Taylor (31), Britain
8. Irina Shekhets (30), USA
9. Levzi Cardoso (50), USA
10. Heather Finch (40), USA
11. Kendra Fallon (19), USA

Crew members
1. Laxman Prakash Shah (pilot), Nepal
2. Sofiya Singh (co-pilot), Nepal
3. Sara Sherpa (attendant), Nepal

Major crashes in the last five years

Date Operator Fatalities Place
21-06-2006 Yeti Airlines 9 Jumla
23-09-2006 Shree Airlines (Helicopter) 24 Taplejung
03-03-2008 UNMIN Helicopter MI-8 10 Ramechhap
08-10-2008 Yeti Airlines 18 Lukla
15-11-2009 Manang Air 1 Humla
24-08-2010 Agni Air 14 Makawanpur

Source: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=22512