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Tara Air Flight 193

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Tara Air Flight 193
Twin engine passenger aircraft on the ground
DHC-6 9N-ABM of Tara Airlines, similar to the one that crashed
Accident
Date24 February 2016 (2016-02-24)
SummaryUnder investigation
SiteDana, Myagdi district, Nepal
Aircraft
Aircraft typede Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 built by Viking Air
OperatorTara Air
Registration9N-AHH
Flight originPokhara Airport, Pokhara
DestinationJomsom Airport, Jomsom
Passengers20
Crew3
Fatalities23 (all)
Survivors0
Tara Air Flight 193 is located in Nepal
PKR
PKR
Dana
Dana
JMO
JMO
class=notpageimage|
A map showing the locations of Pokhara Airport (PKR), Jomson Airport (JMO) and Dana, the location where the crash site was found.

Tara Air Flight 193 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight, serving the route from Pokhara Airport in Pokhara, Nepal, to Jomsom Airport in Jomsom, Nepal. On 24 February 2016, 10 minutes after take-off, the aircraft, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, Series 400, with registration 9N-AHH, went missing with 23 people on board.[1][2][3]

Nepal's police and army dispatched three helicopters to search for the missing plane. Hours later, the wreckage was found near Dana village, Myagdi district, alongside charred bodies. Of 23 people onboard the aircraft, none survived.[4] The crash was the 27th loss of a DHC-6 aircraft, the seventh deadliest plane crash in Nepal, and the fourth worst accident involving a DHC-6.[5]. With 23 fatalities, this was Tara Air's worst plane crash, surpassing the 2010's Tara Air DHC-6 crash which killed 22 people.

Aircraft

The DHC-6 Twin Otter was built in 2012 by Viking Air with manufacturer's serial number (MSN) 926. The aircraft was previously registered as C-GUVT.[6] In September 2015, it was later delivered to Tara Air and re-registered 9N-AHH.[6][7][8]

Passengers

Of the 20 passengers aboard, 18 – including two children[9] – were from Nepal, one was from Hong Kong, and another from Kuwait.[10]

Country Passengers Crew Total
   Nepal 18 3 21
 Hong Kong 1 0 1
 Kuwait 1 0 1
Total 20 3 23

Background

Nepal is a landlocked country with small parts of the country situated in a low land elevation in the south and high mountains in the north, the perpetual snow line to some 90 peaks over 7,000 metres (22,966 ft) including Earth's highest 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) Mount Everest or Sagarmatha. Nepal is renowned due to its high mountainous area, particularly due to its highest mountain on earth which lies in the highest mountain range, the Himalayas. Air travel is very important in Nepal because of the country's high elevation and limited road access to isolated cities and villages, increasingly since Nepal's infrastructure and economy were hit hard by an earthquake that killed 8,000 people in April 2015 followed by a major aftershock in May 2015.[11]

Nepal has had several plane crashes in the last decade. In 2014, Nepal Airlines Flight 183 crashed into mountains in bad weather, killing all 18 people aboard. On September 2012, Sita Air Flight 601, carrying 19 people, also hit a mountain after colliding with a vulture, killing everyone aboard. On May 2012, Agni Air Flight CHT, carrying 21 people and serving the same route as Flight 193, crashed while attempting a go-around at Jomsom Airport. 15 people were killed including Indian child actress Taruni Sachdev.[11][12]

Since 1949, the year the first aircraft landed in Nepal, there have been more than 70 crashes involving planes and helicopters, in which more than 700 people have been killed. The deadliest occurred in 28 September 1992 when an Airbus A300 operated by Pakistan International Airlines crashed into the side of the mountain, killing all 167 people onboard. Most accidents in Nepal have been attributed to bad weather, inexperienced pilots and inadequate maintenance. Controlled Flights Into Terrain were also not rare, because of Nepal's mountainous terrain and unpredictable weather. The European Union banned all Nepalese airlines from flying to its territory for safety reasons in 2013.[11]

Flight

The aircraft took off from Pokhara at 7:50 am local time. The normal flight duration of the route is 18 minutes. It lost contact with the control tower at Pokhara 10 minutes after takeoff,[10] and was found crashed at Tirkhe Dhunga, Dana VDC of Myagdi district at 1:25 pm by a police team deployed from Dana Police Post.[9] Tara Air reported that the weather at both origin and destination airports was favourable.[10] Further investigation is ongoing.

Recovery

Helicopters scoured the route for hours, but rescue efforts were slowed down by poor weather conditions, including dense fog.[13] The wreckage was found burning after impacting a mountain side, with charred bodies visible inside.[14] Bishwa Raj Khadka, the district Chief of Police,[15] stated that personnel involved in the rescue operations have recovered 17 bodies from the crash site.[16]

Investigation

A "high level probe panel" is being formed to investigate the crash.[2] Ananda Prasad Pokharel, minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation said that the wreckage of the plane was found in a completely burnt state, “in an area of some 200 meters [660 feet]”,[17] in Solighopte in Myagdi District, a part of Dhaulagiri Zone.[18][19]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Missing Tara Air plane with 23 onboard could have crashed in Myagdi's Rupse". The Kathmandu Post. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b Hradecky, Simon (24 February 2016). "Accident: Tara DHC6 near Pokhara on Feb 24th 2016, aircraft missing enroute". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Plane crash feared in Nepal as flight carrying 21 goes missing in mountains". The Guardian. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Missing Nepal Tara Air passenger plane 'found crashed in jungle' amid fears no one survived". 24 February 2016. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Harro Ranter (24 February 2016). "ASN Aircraft accident Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter 400 9N-AHH Dana, Myagdi district". Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Aircraft Registration Database Lookup". Airframes.org. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  7. ^ "2016-02-24 Tara Air Twin Otter crashed in Myagdi District, Nepal". JACDEC. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  8. ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter 400 9N-AHH Dana, Myagdi district". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  9. ^ a b "23 confirmed dead in Myagdi plane crash". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  10. ^ a b c "Nepal small passenger plane wreckage found". BBC News. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  11. ^ a b c "Nepal plane crash: 23 bodies are recovered". BBC. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  12. ^ "Weather blamed in Nepal plane crash; all 23 bodies found". CNN. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Nepal plane crash: Tara Air plane goes down, 23 feared dead". CNN. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  14. ^ "Nepal plane crash: All 23 on board killed as Tara Air flight crashes into Himalayan mountain". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  15. ^ "Missing Tara Air plane found crashed in Myagdi (UPDATE)". Setopati. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  16. ^ "All 23 onboard Tara Air dead, 17 bodies recovered". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  17. ^ "Chances of finding Tara Air passengers alive slim: Nepal Army". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  18. ^ "Wreckage of plane carrying 23 people found in Nepal". The Guardian. 24 February 2016.
  19. ^ "Missing Nepal Tara Air passenger plane 'found crashed in jungle'". The Independent. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
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