Tara Air crash was human error: Probe report

The fatal crash of Tara Air on February 24 occurred due to human error, investigation panel formed to probe the cause of the air accident reported today.
Submitting the report of the crash – that had claimed 23 lives – to the Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Ananda Prasad Pokharel, the panel said that human error was the cause for crash.
The airlines crashed as the pilot had diverted aircraft to the left of the dedicated route because it was enshrouded in cloud. "The pilot had not followed the basic rules of VFR flight and entered the cloud and lost awareness of the situation,” the report stated, adding that the pilot had deviated from the flight plan and had flown in between two hills while crossing Tatopani of Myagdi. "The pilot had then turned the aircraft to the left ignoring the ground proximity warning system and the plane hit the cliff."
After the crash – as usual – the government had formed a five-member probe panel to submit a report on the crash. The panel led by former director general of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Rajesh Raj Dali had Aeronautical Engineer and Air Safety Specialist Deepak Bastola – from Nepali Army – Nepal Airlines Captain Shrawan Rijal, Simrik Airlines Engineering Director Ram Prasad Koirala and Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Suresh Acharya.

Tara Air adds new Dornier aircraft

Tara Air added a Dornier Do228 aircraft to its fleet of seven aircraft.
The Dornier Do228 aircraft of Tara Air today landed at Tribhuvan International Airport and is expected to start flying from Tuesday.

Currently, Tara Air operates a fleet of four Canadian built DHC6-300 Twin Otters and three German built Dornier Do228-212 aircrafts. 

Purchased from Philippines, the 18-seater Dornier Do228-212 is a Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) capable aircraft that is ideal for operating in short, high altitude runways such as Lukla and Jomsom, the airlines said, adding that the Honeywell TPE 331-10 twin engine powered aircraft is equipped with the latest Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) and the advanced Traffic Collision Awareness System II (TCAS II) and meets all the standards set by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

“The aircraft will also help provide transportation and food supply to rural areas,” according to Tara Air that is a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines.

Formed in 2009, when Yeti Airlines split its STOL operations from its regional operations, Tara Air operates scheduled domestic flights to 18 destinations in the country.

Tara Air completes Rumzatar test flight

Tara Air conducted a test flight today to Rumzatar.
The flight operated by Captain Pemba Sherpa took off from Kathmandu Airport around 10: 30 in the morning and landed successfully at the newly renovated Rumzatar Airport, according to the airlines.
The airport was not in operation for the last 18 months due to construction works.

Though, the director general of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Ratish Chandra Lal Suman led the panel of guests to board the flight, the successful test flight will be reported to CAAN, it said, adding that the authority will then give green signal for scheduled flights.
“We will be flying once a week to Rumzatar in the beginning, said operations director at Tara Air Santa Prajapati.
Tara Air is the only means of transportation to the rural Nepal, he said, adding that it has been giving consistent regular services to the people for a long time. “It is expensive as well very risky to operate in the rural part with our Geographical Terrain but still Tara Air has not been shy of their commitment to the rural Nepal.”
It also flies once a week to every Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) sector on a subsidised basis under corporate social responsibility.

NAC aircraft skids runway, passengers survive with injuries

A Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Twin Otter today morning skidded off the runway and plunged into the Kali Gandaki river banks but the passengers survived with injuries.
Though, there were no casualties reported, the crew members including pilot Capt Deependra Pradhan, co-pilot Suresh KC and air hostess Santa Maya Tamang and two Japanese passengers were seriously injured.
The injured crew members were airlifted by Tara Air to Gandaki Hospital, whereas Dynasty Air chopper air lifted Japanese passengers directly to the Manipal hospital in Pokhara. The pilot and copilot were, however, flown to Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj in Kathmandu by Dynasty Air chopper at around 1.30 pm as they were more critically injured.
It was the second and chartered flight of the ill-fated aircraft 9N–ABO DHC6 that had 22 passengers, including three crew members, eight Japanese, 10 Nepali passengers and a child.
According to the police, the wheel of the plane touched the runway but that the aircraft veered toward the right and crashed on the banks of the Kaligandaki. "The front portion of the plane was destroyed but the rear part remained intact," they said, adding that the left wing remained submerged in the river. Rescuers were able to pull the injured passengers and crew from the plane.
The Dynasty Air chopper airlifted all the passengers — in three rounds — including cabin crews for the first aid, after which the Japanese passengers have been in contact with their embassy in Kathmandu.
The aircraft overrun the runway after it landed at the Jomsom airport at around 8.40 in the morning. The Canadian-built Twin Otter aircraft had done its first flight today morning at 6:15 from Pokhara to Jomsom.
The aircraft might have skidded off on the mountainous airstrip due to the sudden fog and mountain wind in the Jomsom area that is 200-km northwest of the capital Kathmandu.
Today's crash reminded of another air crash a year ago in May 14, 2012 when an Agni Air aircraft crashed into a hill near the Jomsom airport, killing 15 people on board.
Meanwhile, the government has formed a four-member investigation committee led by former director general of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Ram Prasad Neupane. The committee — that has senior pilot of Tara Air Prabhakar Ghimire, senior aironautical engineer Meghendra Kumar Shrestha and joint secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane as members — will investigate and present its report within two months.
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has promised to work on making the domestic sky safer.
However, the Jomsom Airport — the only airport in Mustang district at an elevation of 8,800 feet above the sea level — is surrounded by mountains and landing at the airport is somewhat risky compared to other airports. 



NAC has only one aircraft for domestic flight
KATHMANDU: The ailing Nepal Airlines Corporation has, now, left with only one Twin Otter as it had recently called for tender to change the engine of three of its Twin Otter aircraft. "The changing of engine of these aircraft will take minimum of three months," according to a source at the corporation that will now be dependent on only one aircraft for the domestic flights. It had been flying to more than 25 destinations inside the country. "The domestic flights will have to be rearranged and reduced," he added.

IOM, Yeti Airlines renew service agreement

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Yeti Airlines have extended their partnership.
Yeti Airlines, which has been providing exclusive air travel service to IOM since 2008, has once more been selected to be the official air travel partner of the IOM, according to the airlines. "The airlines that operates BAE’s Jet stream 41 — the world’s best turboprop aircraft — has been continuously offering its best services to IOM for over than five years. The airlines has provided service for over 2,345 chartered flights assisting 75,326 passengers. The IOM — the world’s leading international organisation working in the field of migration — works in close coordination with various actors in the international, national and local community to fulfill its mandate to uphold the dignity and wellbeing of migrants. As an inter-governmental organisation that has offices in over 100 countries, IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all by providing services and advice to governments and assistance to migrants.
Nepal became an IOM member state in 2006 and IOM has had the distinct pleasure to support its important member state in a range of areas of intervention including inter alia movement, emergency and post-crisis management, labour migration, reparation programmes, counter-trafficking and in addressing climate change and environmental degradation.
As in Nepal, road transport is often not easy and available for all destinations, the IOM has joined hands with Yeti Airlines, for travel as a reliable, trustworthy, and efficient partner. "The partnership is particularly critical to IOM’s work on refugee resettlement, whereby IOM flies all refugees that it is assisting across the country," it added.
At the core of IOM’s work, lies the beneficiary of its service, and IOM has found given Yeti’s airline’s excellent service to it and the refugees, the according to the airlines that has been since past 14 years, whether it is on-board or on-ground, serving with pride and determination, and most importantly, with timeliness.
The airlines operates a fleet of BAE’s most advanced Jetstream-41 aircrafts, in accordance with safety standards that remain unmatched. "It is the first airline to receive the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) based NCAR 145 certificate, and Maintenance Organisation Approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
Yeti Airlines, along with Tara Airlines, flies the widest network with over 50 flights a day in the country.