An airliner in Nepal crashes due to a faulty decision 

Friday, December 29, 2023

When insensitivity takes over, then subtle things can make the entire job go haywire. This is what happened with Yeti Airlines when it was flying to Pokhara. 

The flight underwent a dire situation when it lost its thrust due to the resultant situation of aerodynamic stall. 

This led to the loss of lives, amounting to 72 people, and amongst two of them were infants. 

This happened because the pilots mistakenly cut the power. 

This accident was the resultant situation of an inadvertent movement relating to both condition levers to the feathered position concerning the crashed flight. Due to this mishap, it resulted in feathering both propellers and, thereby, loss of thrust. Eventually, it led to an aerodynamic stall and a collision with the terrain. 

Aeronautical engineer Dipak Prasad Bastola, who is on the examining panel, told the media that the pilots neglected to select the flap lever and instead put the condition levers, which govern power, in the feathering position. Thereby resulted in the mishap. 

One of the greatest aviation mishaps to hit Nepal in three decades happened on January 15, right before the aircraft touched down in the popular tourist destination of Pokhara. Of the seventy-two passengers, there were two babies, four crew members, and fifteen foreign nationals. There were no survivors. There were five Indian nationals among the victims of the crash.

Batsola further added that, due to the momentum of the aircraft, it flew for more than 49 seconds and then eventually crashed into the ground. 

The engine had to run idle for a limited span of time and not produce any thrust, which contributed to the uneven situation. 

The inquiry also brought attention to the more general problem of the pilots’ ignorance of SOPs and lack of awareness. The aircraft, an ATR 72 operated by the privately held company Yeti Airlines, has engines made by Pratt & Whitney Canada in Canada. Since 2013, Nepali flights have been prohibited from operating in EU airspace due to safety concerns.

The tragic incident involving Yeti Airlines in Pokhara marked the 104th crash in Nepali skies and ranked as the third biggest in terms of casualties. Minister Kirati directed subordinate bodies to strictly implement the Probe Commission’s suggestions to prevent future accidents caused by human error and operational deficiencies.

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