ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 9N-AEQ Jumla Airport (JUM)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Wednesday 21 June 2006
Time:12:03
Type:Silhouette image of generic DHC6 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
Operator:Yeti Airlines
Registration: 9N-AEQ
MSN: 708
First flight: 1980-08-20 (25 years 10 months)
Total airframe hrs:23392
Cycles:36092
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27
Crew:Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Total:Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:0,5 km (0.3 mls) E of Jumla Airport (JUM) (   Nepal)
Phase: Approach (APR)
Nature:Domestic Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Surkhet Airport (SKH/VNSK), Nepal
Destination airport:Jumla Airport (JUM/VNJL), Nepal
Narrative:
Servicing remote airports in Nepal, the Yeti Airlines Twin Otter departed Nepalganj (KEP) for a flight to Jumla (JUM) via Surkhet (SKH). The flight took off from Surket at 11:35 with 6 passengers, 941 kg of cargo including food grains and three crew members on board. The total take off weight of aircraft was 12,499 lb (5669 kg) which included 1400 lb (635 kg) of fuel.
The weather report at Jumla at that time was fair with bright sunshine and north easterly 02 knots wind. The wind direction had changed at the time of take off from south westerly.
The aircraft left Surkhet valley and established contact with Nepalgunj Tower as per normal procedure. At 11:49 the aircraft reported 'Virgin Pass', one of the reporting points en-route to Jumla.
At 11:55 the aircraft established contact with Jumla Information and received weather information and runway 27 for landing. Wind was reported being 240 at 4 kts. The pilot decided to use runway 09 and reported turning final at 12:01. The aircraft appeared on final approach with high speed. The captain carried out missed approach without informing Jumla control tower. He coordinated his position and intention to use runway 27 with the pilot of aircraft 9N-AHR operated by Sita Air which was to land 7 minutes behind him. The captain flew over to the right of Jumla control tower, while executing the missed approach and headed towards a hill. The captain then made a sharp left turn with a high bank angle with an intention to land on runway 27 while informing to vacate the runway for trailing 9N-AHR aircraft. During this process the aircraft lost speed as well as altitude considerably and hit the paddy field to the east of the airport. The Twin Otter bounced up and traversed a further 200 feet approximately or so ultimately hitting a terrace, cart wheeled came to rest turning 180 degrees with tail section twisted. It instantly caught fire.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE:
"The Commission concluded the probable cause of the accident to be the crew's attempt to make a sudden go-around while close to R/W 09 threshold with a very low circuit altitude and subsequent attempt to turn in a tight circuit with excessive angle of bank that led to a stall. The aircraft subsequently contacted terrain due to insufficient clearance available for effective stall recovery. The quick decisions to change runway added to the crew workload at a critical period which was aggravated by the breakdown of cockpit discipline. The other contributory factors leading to the accident were:
1) Violation of company Standard Operating Procedures by flight crew
2) Insufficient monitoring of its flight training program and line operations by Yeti management
3) Inadequate oversight of Yeti Airlines by CAAN."

Classification:
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain

Sources:
» Hemant Arjyal by e-mail 21-6-2006
» Yeti Airlines plane crashes in Jumla, 9 dead (Kantipur Report, 21-6-2006)


Photos

photo of DHC-6-Twin-Otter-300-9N-AEQ
accident date: 21-06-2006
type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
registration: 9N-AEQ
photo of DHC-6-Twin-Otter-300-9N-AEQ
accident date: 21-06-2006
type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
registration: 9N-AEQ
photo of DHC-6-Twin-Otter-300-9N-AEQ
accident date: 21-06-2006
type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
registration: 9N-AEQ
 

Aircraft history
date registration operator remarks
7P-LAO Lesotho Airways
ET-AKJ RRC Air Services
16 dec 1997 C-GBQD Kenn Borek Air
12 may 1998 9N-AEQ Lumbini Airways
9N-AEQ Skyline Airways
9N-AEQ Yeti Airlines

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 Surkhet Airport to Jumla Airport as the crow flies is 93 km (58 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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