ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 320572
| Date: | Sunday 16 February 2014 |
| Time: | 13:30 |
| Type: |  de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 |
| Owner/operator: | Nepal Airlines |
| Registration: | 9N-ABB |
| MSN: | 302 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1971 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 43947 hours |
| Cycles: | 74217 flights |
| Engine model: | Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 18 / Occupants: 18 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 7 km NW of Sandhikhark -
 Nepal
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Pokhara Airport (PKR/VNPK) |
| Jumla Airport (JUM/VNJL) | |
| Investigating agency: | Nepal AAIC |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Nepal Airlines was destroyed when it impacted a mountainside near Sandhikhark, Nepal. All 18 on board sustained fatal injuries.
Flight RA183 was a domestic flight from Kathmandu to Jumla with a refueling stop at Pokhara. The airplane took off from Pokhara at 12:43. Upon leaving Pokhara Control Zone, the pilot in command realized that the direct track was not possible due weather and decided to proceed via a more southern track. During the flight the pilots were experiencing uncomfortable flying environment due to unfavorable weather conditions. Attempting to avoid the weather, the pilots had to fly up and down and changing the heading. Finally being unable to penetrate the weather ahead, the captain decided to divert to Bhairahawa, the nearest airport. However, the captain did not take into consideration the surrounding terrain and continued descent turning right.
The aircraft initially slashed a small tree and finally impacted a ridge. Due to the heavy impact the left wing was first disintegrated and then the front part of the aircraft toppled over beyond the ridge with several subsequent impacts.
The cockpit voice recorder showed that the copilot had warned the captain not to descend or turn.
The wreckage was located the following morning at an altitude of 7190 feet (2192 m). There were no surivors.
Causes:
After detail investigation and thorough analysis of the circumstances and evidences, the Commission has determined that the most probable causes of the accident is the
"Losing situational awareness on the part of PIC while flying into instrument meteorological weather condition to the extent of Collision with terrain."
The contributing factors to the occurrence are;
- Deteriorated weather associated with western disturbance, unstable in nature and embedded CB.
- Inappropriate and insufficient crew coordination while changing course of action.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
ekantipur.com
Nepali Times
Hemant Arjyal
SKYbrary
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 5 July 1992 | 9N-ABB | Royal Nepal Airlines | 0 | Jumla Airport (JUM) | |
sub |
Location
Images:
photo (c) Krish Dulal; near Sandhikhark; 17 February 2014; (CC:by-sa)
photo (c) Werner Fischdick; Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM/VNKT); 27 October 2011
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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