Accident description
Last updated: 19 May 2013
| Status: | Preliminary |
| Date: | 25 SEP 2011 |
| Time: | 07:31 |
| Type: | Beechcraft 1900D |
| Operator: | Buddha Air |
| Registration: | 9N-AEK |
| C/n / msn: | UE-295 |
| First flight: | 1997-11-01 (13 years 11 months) |
| Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67D |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 16 / Occupants: 16 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 19 / Occupants: 19 |
| Airplane damage: | Written off |
| Airplane fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | 8 km (5 mls) SSE of Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM) (Nepal)
 |
| Phase: | Approach (APR) |
| Nature: | Domestic Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM/VNKT), Nepal |
| Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM/VNKT), Nepal | |
| Flightnumber: | 103 |
A Beechcraft 1900D passenger plane, operated by Buddha Air, struck terrain while on approach to Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM), Nepal.
There were total of 16 tourists and 3 crew members on board. All were killed.
The weather was overcast with very low clouds on the approach. Flights were operating normally under VFR rules at the time of the accident. The Beech 1900 was on the base leg of the approach following an 'Everest Experience' sightseeing flight.
The accident location was a hills side near Kotdanda, approx. 5,5 km (3 NM) short of the runway 02 threshold and 5 km (2,7 NM) to the east of the extended centreline.
Weather reported about the time of the accident (07:31 LT / 01:46Z):
METAR VNKT 250050Z 00000KT 6000 -RA FEW010 SCT020 OVC100 20/19 Q1013
METAR VNKT 250150Z 00000KT 6000 FEW010 SCT025 OVC100 20/19 Q1014 [Calm wind, Visibility: 6000 m; Few clouds, at 1000 feet; Scattered clouds at 2500 feet; Overcast sky at 10000 feet; Temperature: 20 degrees Celsius; Dewpoint: 19 degrees Celsius; QNH (Sea-level pressure): 1014 hPa]
Sources:
» BBC
» Hemant Arjyal
Photos
Location of the accident relative to KTM airport and the IFR holding pattern
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 Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport to Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport as the crow flies is 0 km (0 miles).
Distance from Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport to Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport as the crow flies is 0 km (0 miles).
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.
Nepal