Kathmandu, December 17:

Considering the increasing trend of air accidents in Nepal, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has started studying the lapses leading to such accidents, Tourism Minister Pradip Gyawali said today. There is no point piling up accident investigation reports since the need of the hour is to analyse and implement recommendations by such reports, he said.

Stating that air safety in Nepal has started to be questioned, Minister Gyawali spelt out the need to deal with the problems and causes of such accidents to avoid such fatalities in the times to come.

Accidents whether fatal or non-fatal with casualties or without casualties are of deep concern; therefore, such accidents should be minimised, he said at a programme titled ‘Accident reduction strategies in Nepalese air transportation.’ The programme was organised by the Aviation Safety Department of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

In order to pave way for an aviation boom and air frequency in the country, aviation safety is of utmost importance, he said. “Moreover, air transport is the only mode of transport for remote areas and it is a necessity and not luxury,” he said. On a similar note, Mohan Adhikari, director general of the CAAN, pointed out the need to focus on reducing air accidents in the country. The smallest of errors leading to air accidents tend to repeat, thus “we need to identify such errors and ensure that they are not repeated in the future,” he said.

RP Neupane, deputy director general of CAAN, said:

“Although the number of air fatalities in Nepal is not much, we are still behind the targeted level of aviation safety.