Probe panel submits report
Kathmandu, December 15
A commission formed by the government to probe the crash of Goma 409 of Goma Air (now Summit Air), has submitted its report to the government today faulting the deadly mix of challenging terrain, unfavourable weather condition and human error for the accident that had occurred on May 27.
Following the crash, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) had formed a five-member probe panel under the coordination of former Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) director general Tri Ratna Manandhar to investigate the incident. A senior pilot and co-pilot were killed and a crew member was injured while the cargo plane (registration number 9N-AKY) was attempting to land at the Lukla Airport.
Submitting its report, the probe panel has determined that the probable major cause of the accident was the challenging terrain and rapidly deteriorating weather condition at Lukla Airport when the ill-fated Goma Air plane was landing. Similarly, the report has mentioned the pilot’s loss of situational awareness to cope with the deteriorating weather condition and improper response of the pilot to stall warnings, including failure to advance power lever to maximum at appropriate time.
Likewise, the report also determined violation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by the Air Traffic Service (ATS) and the pilot as contributing factors for the plane crash.
“The probable cause of this accident was aircraft stall as a result of excessive drag created by sudden increase in angle of attack of the aircraft, supplemented by low speed in an attempt to initiate immediate climb on a landing configuration (full flap and landing gear down), warranted by the critical situation of the final phase of the flight,” the report stated.
Apart from Manandhar, the probe panel included Captain Ashish Narsingh Rana, colonel at the Directorate General of Army Aviation, Senior Captain at Tara Air Bodh Raj Niraula, Senior Engineer at Manang Air Digambar Rajbhandari as members and Suresh Acharya, joint-secretary at the MoCTCA as the member secretary.
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