Narrative:
The aircraft took off from Kathmandu Airport at 06:51 on a domestic flight to Lukla (LUA). Lukla Airport has a single runway, 06/24 which is situated at an elevation of 9380 feet. The 1600 feet long bitumen runway has an upslope of 11,75°. Runway 06 can only be used for landing.
Visibility was reported as poor as the Twin Otter came in to land. It contacted rocks near the runway, crashed and caught fire. The captain was the only survivor.
Cause:
The probable primary cause was flight crew's misjudgment, based on the weather information from all the preceding aircraft and Lukla Information, to enter into cloud patch on final wherein the aircraft encountered the rapidly uplifting fog on short final resulting in control flight into terrain.
a) Failure on the part of regulatory body and company safety management to check the wrong practices being followed by pilots especially in STOL airfields like Lukla on a timely basis.
b) AFIS personnel on duty not being able to declare airport closure due to high workload, stress and landing of preceding three aircraft in similar marginal weather condition.
c) Operator's priority of economical aspect over safety such as their unequal treatments between pilots landing in adverse weather and diverters, creating a 'Must Land' situation.
» Nepalnews
» Hemant Arjyal
» Pilot blamed for air crash near Everest (The Age, 1-1-2009)
9N-AFE
accident date: 08-10-2008
type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
registration: 9N-AFE
| Status: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
| Date: | Wednesday 8 October 2008 |
| Time: | 07:31 |
| Type: |  de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 |
| Operator: | Yeti Airlines |
| Registration: | 9N-AFE |
| MSN: | 720 |
| First flight: | 1980 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 32925 |
| Cycles: | 65041 |
| Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 16 / Occupants: 16 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 18 / Occupants: 19 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Aircraft fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Lukla-Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA) ( Nepal)
|
| Crash site elevation: | 2859 m (9380 feet) amsl |
| Phase: | Landing (LDG) |
| Nature: | Domestic Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM/VNKT), Nepal |
| Lukla-Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA/VNLK), Nepal | |
| Flightnumber: | YT101 |
The aircraft took off from Kathmandu Airport at 06:51 on a domestic flight to Lukla (LUA). Lukla Airport has a single runway, 06/24 which is situated at an elevation of 9380 feet. The 1600 feet long bitumen runway has an upslope of 11,75°. Runway 06 can only be used for landing.
Visibility was reported as poor as the Twin Otter came in to land. It contacted rocks near the runway, crashed and caught fire. The captain was the only survivor.
Probable Cause:
Cause:
The probable primary cause was flight crew's misjudgment, based on the weather information from all the preceding aircraft and Lukla Information, to enter into cloud patch on final wherein the aircraft encountered the rapidly uplifting fog on short final resulting in control flight into terrain.
a) Failure on the part of regulatory body and company safety management to check the wrong practices being followed by pilots especially in STOL airfields like Lukla on a timely basis.
b) AFIS personnel on duty not being able to declare airport closure due to high workload, stress and landing of preceding three aircraft in similar marginal weather condition.
c) Operator's priority of economical aspect over safety such as their unequal treatments between pilots landing in adverse weather and diverters, creating a 'Must Land' situation.
Accident investigation:
|
Classification:
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain
Sources:
» Yeti Airlines» Nepalnews
» Hemant Arjyal
» Pilot blamed for air crash near Everest (The Age, 1-1-2009)
Photos
9N-AFE
accident date: 08-10-2008
type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
registration: 9N-AFE
Video, social media
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport to Lukla-Tenzing-Hillary Airport as the crow flies is 134 km (84 miles).
Accident location: Approximate; accuracy within a few kilometers.
Distance from Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport to Lukla-Tenzing-Hillary Airport as the crow flies is 134 km (84 miles).
Accident location: Approximate; accuracy within a few kilometers.
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
languages: 
Nepal
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DHC-6 Twin Otter
- 930+ built
- 256th loss
- 167th fatal accident
- 18th worst accident (at the time)
- 20th worst accident (currently)
Nepal- 9th worst accident (at the time)
- 14th worst accident (currently)
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