2016 Air Kasthamandap PAC 750XL crash

2016 Air Kasthamandap crash

A PAC 750XL similar to the aircraft involved
Accident
Date	26 February 2016 (2016-02-26)
Summary	Engine Failure due to poor maintenance
Site	Chilkhaya, Kalikot district, Nepal
Aircraft
Aircraft type	PAC 750XL
Operator	Air Kasthamandap
Registration	9N-AJB
Flight origin	Nepalgunj Airport, Nepalgunj, Nepal
Destination	Jumla Airport, Jumla, Nepal
Occupants	11
Passengers	9
Crew	2
Fatalities	2
Injuries	9
Survivors	9

On 26 February 2016, an Air Kasthamandap PAC 750XL passenger aircraft with eleven people on board crashed at Chilkhaya in Kalikot district, Nepal, killing the two crew members and injuring all nine passengers on board.^[1] The accident occurred just two days after Tara Air Flight 193.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the crash was a PAC 750XL operated by Air Kasthamandap. It was delivered to the airline brand new in 2009.^[2]

Accident

The aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing. The pilot gave a warning to the passengers before landing in a field.^[3] The forward fuselage was reported to have been crushed.^{[citation needed]}

Crew and Passengers

The victims were identified as First Officer Santosh Rana and Captain Dinesh Neupane. Rana was the son of Nepal's Minister of Land Reform and Management, CPN-UML central leader, and lawmaker Dal Bahadur Rana.^[4] There were nine passengers on board including an infant, all of which sustained injuries.^[5]

Aftermath

Initial reports indicate that the crew were trying to make an emergency landing due to a technical problem.^[6]

Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli expressed condolences to the families of crew members killed in the incident.^[4]

Shortly after the accident, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal stated that it had only allowed single engine aircraft to operate on chartered, not regular flights.^[7] Following the accident, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal forbid airlines to operate passenger flights on single engine aircraft.^[8]

Investigation

One day after the accident, the Government of Nepal formed a committee to investigate the accident.^[7] The report, released in September 2016 found that an engine failure caused the emergency landing on a field. The landing gear was caught in a pile of firewood, leading the aircraft to impact on the ground. The cockpit was thereafter destroyed.^[9] The engine was built in 1991 and installed on the aircraft in 2015. The report found that financial difficulties caused the airline to neglect the aircraft's maintenance.^[9]

References

1. "Air Kasthamandap crash-lands in Kalikot; Captain, co-pilot killed". kathmandupost.ekantipur.com. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
2. "REGISTRATION DETAILS FOR 9N-AJB (AIR KASTHAMANDAP) PAC 750XL". Planelogger. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
3. "Air Kasthamandap crash". Nepali Times. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
4. "Air Kasthamandap plane crash-lands in Kalikot; 2 killed". The Himalayan Times. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
5. "Air Kasthamandap plane crash-lands; two killed". The Himalayan Times. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
6. Sharma, Bhadra (26 February 2016). "2 Die in Second Deadly Plane Crash in Nepal in a Week". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
7. "Nepal to probe Air Kasthamandap plane accident". Business Standard India. Business Standard. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
8. "Single-engine planes ferrying goods". The Himalayan Times. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
9. "Air Kasthamandap crash caused by engine failure: Probe report". The Kathmandu Post. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2019.