A major plane crash took place in Nepal’s Kathmandu on Wednesday (24th July). According to a report in Kathmandu Post, an aircraft belonging to Saurya Airlines crashed during takeoff at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu. 19 people, including crew members, were onboard the plane when it crashed at around 11 am. As per preliminary information, eighteen bodies have been recovered from the crash site while several reports have confirmed multiple casualties, some reports have claimed that these 18 people have died in this crash.
#WATCH | Plane crashes at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal's Kathmandu. Details awaited pic.twitter.com/tWwPOFE1qI
— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2024
According to a report in the Himalayan Times, the plane was only carrying the technical staff of the airline. An information officer at the TIA, Gyanendra Bhul said that there were no passengers on board but the plane was carrying a few technical staff.
TIA Spokesperson Subash Jha said that the accident occurred after the Pokhara-bound flight suffered a runway excursion during takeoff. Jha added that Captain MR Shakya was rushed to the hospital without giving further details.
According to eyewitnesses, the plane suddenly flipped when it was taking off from the Southern end of the runway (Koteshwor side). Moments later, its wing tip hit the ground and the aircraft immediately caught fire. It then plunged into a gorge on the eastern side of the runway between Buddha Air hanger and the radar station, the eyewitnesses recounted.
Police and firefighters are carrying out rescue operations at the accident site. According to reports citing officials, the fire has been doused.
Meanwhile, the flight was en route to Pokhara, an important tourism hub in Nepal. According to its website, Saurya Airlines exclusively flies Bombardier CRJ 200 jets.
Nepal’s aviation sector is plagued by concerns about safety
The aviation industry in the Himalayan nation has been witnessing significant growth in recent years but it has been plagued by concerns about safety.
Last year in January, Nepal suffered one of the deadliest plane crashes in more than 3 decades. The accident took place when an ATR 72 aircraft belonging to Yeti Airlines crashed near Pokhara. 72 people, including passengers and crew members, were onboard the plane when it crashed. All of them lost their lives in the crash. In an alarming display of the lack of pilot training, the crash investigation later revealed that the plane crashed because the pilot pulled the ‘wrong lever’.
According to data from the Aviation Safety Network (ASN), it was the third-deadliest crash in Nepal’s history. Around 167 people died after Pakistan International Airlines crashed in Nepal in September 1992. A few months earlier, the country lost 113 people when Thai Airways crashed in July 1992.
Meanwhile, on 29th May 2022, a Tara Air plane crashed in the Mustang district. All 22 passengers onboard the plane had lost their lives in that crash.
In 2018, around 51 people died and 20 others sustained serious injuries when a US-Bangla Airlines flight crash-landed incidentally at today’s crash site, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu.
Strikingly, on average, Nepal has suffered one flight disaster a year. Since 2010, the country has witnessed at least 12 fatal plane crashes, including today’s crash. Additionally, according to the ASN database, Nepal has witnessed about 27 plane crashes over the past three decades, excluding today’s crash. According to some reports, Nepal has seen over 100 crashes overall in its aviation history.
Conspicuously, the European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace citing significant safety concerns. The EU had barred all Nepal airlines from operating in European airspace in December 2013; a decade later, the blanket ban continues.
EU renewed the decade-long ban on Nepalese airlines last year
In December 2023, the European Commission (EC), part of the European Union executive, extended the decade-long ban on Nepalese airlines. The EC continued its ban on Nepali airlines through an updated “EU Air Safety List,” the list of non-European airlines that do not meet international safety standards. Such airlines are subjected to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union.
Notably, the EU Air Safety List is based on the opinion of aviation safety experts of its member states. After a meeting of the EU Air Safety Committee was held in Brussels on November 14-16, the body extended the ban on Nepalese airlines.
According to an official document dated 30th May 2024, all Nepalese airline carriers (in Annexure-A) getting approval from Nepal’s civil aviation authority have been banned from operating in Europe.
Meanwhile, according to The Kathmandu Post, insiders said that the extended ban spoke volumes about the negligence that had resulted from the corrupt system in Nepal.
It is pertinent to note that for a long time, over 15 years, the Nepalese government has been dilly-dallying on safety concerns and mitigation steps suggested by the global aviation watchdogs. They have constantly raised questions on the civil aviation body’s dual role and urged the Himalayan nation to split the organisation into two entities – one that will provide services and another that would regulate it to enhance the safety of flyers. While the bills have reached Parliament on several occasions in the last decade, no government has so far passed them to lose the dual benefits they enjoy because of it.
Insiders said that there is larger politics that prevent the bills from becoming law. They stated that once the civil aviation body is separated, some top position holders will lose the dual benefits they have been enjoying.
According to the Kathmandu Post report, the existing system allows the Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to issue tenders for multi-billion-dollar projects. The DG also oversees compliance with projects and aviation regulations governing the issuance of licences to airlines and crews, making it prone to overlooking concerns of mismanagement and corruption.
An aviation expert said, “We cannot blame airlines when the role of the regulator itself has come under question.”
An aviation expert, who wished not to be named, said, “Why would the EC lift the ban? There have been no substantial improvements in Nepal’s aviation sector.”
The expert added, “People are dying in the world’s safest mode of transport. Crashes in Nepal keep happening and there are no concrete efforts to prevent them.”
There are concerns about corruption, poor training manuals for airline staff and pilots, data management, and lack of oversight by independent experts. As highlighted above, one of the deadliest plane crashes, in January 2023, was a result of the pilot’s inaction as he pulled the ‘wrong lever’ leading to the death of 72 individuals.
Additionally, there have been allegations and reports that Nepalese airline carriers opt for old fleets and purchase retarded or old planes at junk prices, overlooking safety concerns.
They buy second hand planes from foreign airlines that are going to retire them and junk eventually. Same for choppers in which Ministers also travel. Lost RB Adhikari this way. He was a great gentleman.
— Monica Verma (@TrulyMonica) July 24, 2024
Incidentally, Nepal’s anti-graft body, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has been probing a case against 30 individuals and two firms in connection with the 2017 purchase of two wide-body aircraft for the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), the national flag bearer. The allegations involve corruption, tweaking terms of agreements to purchase cheaper planes for profiteering and corruption rather than modern-state of the of-the-art planes.
Incidentally, for several years, Nepal has been trying to discard 6 planes it had brought from China less than a decade ago, from 2014 to 2018. However, it has failed at least twice to sell these planes even at junk prices.
According to The Kathmandu Post, one of the ‘Chinese’ planes crashed in Nepalgunj. The five planes have been grounded at the remote parking bay on the eastern side of TIA in Kathmandu since 2020 and had been gathering rust.
With an alarming one plane crash every year on average, the Himalayan nation has again suffered a major tragic accident killing reportedly 18 people. For Nepal, it is a call for action time to overhaul its aviation sector to safeguard itself from aviation disasters.
