ASN Aircraft accident Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter 400 9N-AHH Dana, Myagdi district
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Wednesday 24 February 2016
Time:08:15
Type:Silhouette image of generic DHC6 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter 400
Operator:Tara Air
Registration: 9N-AHH
MSN: 926
First flight: 2015
Total airframe hrs:270
Cycles:482
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34
Crew:Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:Fatalities: 20 / Occupants: 20
Total:Fatalities: 23 / Occupants: 23
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Dana, Myagdi district (   Nepal)
Crash site elevation: 3347 m (10981 feet) amsl
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Domestic Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Pokhara Airport (PKR/VNPK), Nepal
Destination airport:Jomsom Airport (JMO/VNJS), Nepal
Flightnumber:TB193
Narrative:
A Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter 400, operating Tara Air flight 193, was destroyed in an accident in the Myagdi district, Nepal. All 23 on board suffered fatal injuries.
The aircraft departed at 07:50 hours local time from Pokhara Airport (PKR) on a domestic 20-minute flight to Jomsom Airport (JMO), Nepal. The copilot acted as Pilot Flying, the captain as Pilot Monitoring during the flight. En route the flight deviated to the left and climbed to 12000 feet to avoid clouds.
Over the Ghorepani area the GPWS began to sound. The aircraft was flying through clouds with a little visibility in between and a descent to 10000 feet was initiated. At 10200 feet the GPWS sounded again but the captain responded not to worry about it.
The captain was used to hearing these warnings in normal flight, so it became a habit to disregard the warnings. About one minute before the accident the captain took over control and initiated a climb. The aircraft impacted a mountainside at 10700 feet, coming to rest at an elevation of 10982 feet.

According to a statement by the airline, the aircraft crashed near Tirkhe Dungha, Dana VDC of Myagdi district.

Probable Cause:

Probable Cause:
The Commission concludes that the probable cause of this accident was the fact that despite of unfavourable weather conditions, the crew's repeated decision to enter into cloud during VFR flight and their deviation from the normal track due to loss of situational awareness aggravated by spatial disorientation leading to CFIT accident.

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: AAIC Nepal
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 5 months
Accident number: Final report
Download report: Final report

Classification:
VFR flight in IMC
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain

Sources:
» Hemant Arjyal
» The Himalayan Times
» Tara Air


Photos

photo of Viking-Air-DHC-6-Twin-Otter-400-9N-AHH
approaximate flight route and accident location
 

Aircraft history
date registration operator remarks
20 April 2015 C-GUVT Viking Air registered
26 September 2015 C-GUVT Viking Air delivered to Nepal
1 October 2015 9N-AHH Tara Air registrered

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 Pokhara Airport to Jomsom Airport as the crow flies is 69 km (43 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.
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DHC-6 Twin Otter

  • 930+ built
  • 277th loss
  • 179th fatal accident
  • 4th worst accident
» safety profile

 Nepal
  • 7th worst accident (at the time)
  • 8th worst accident (currently)
» safety profile

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