Date:	Wednesday 21 June 2006
Time:	12:03
Type:	de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
Owner/operator:	Yeti Airlines
Registration:	9N-AEQ
MSN:	708
Year of manufacture:	1980
Total airframe hrs:	23392 hours
Cycles:	36092 flights
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	0,5 km E of Jumla Airport (JUM) -   Nepal
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Surkhet Airport (SKH/VNSK)
Destination airport:	Jumla Airport (JUM/VNJL)
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

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:
"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."

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

photo (c) anon.; Jumla Airport (JUM); 21 June 2006

photo (c) anon.; Jumla Airport (JUM); 21 June 2006

photo (c) Christian HANUISE; Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM); 26 April 2001

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