KATHMANDU, APRIL 1
A big disaster was averted today when a Nepal Airlines aircraft with 155 passengers on board met with an accident while preparing for a takeoff to Kathmandu at Bangkok airport.
Two wheels of RA 402 flight's landing gear exploded when pilot in command, Senior Captain Prashant Rai, noticed a 'brake temperature high' signal.
According to a source at NAC, all passengers are safe and a technical team has already been deployed for maintenance.
"PIC made a rejected takeoff while noticing a brake temperature high signal," NAC sources said, adding that two tyres of its landing gear exploded while taking off.
TE corporation will investigate the incident, the official said.
A passenger on board the flight told THT over phone that it was a traumatic experience and it was a miracle that all passengers had survived without a scratch.
The flight, which was supposed to take off at 16:25 local time, has been cancelled.
Maintenance is being delayed due to lack of spare tyres, sources said, adding that efforts were under way to bring tyres from New Delhi or Doha.
NAC source said that the narrow body Airbus, which flew for Bangkok from Kathmandu today, lacks a brake fan. Lack of brake fan may have caused the incident there, the source added.
Prompt coordination among NAC departments is also lacking in the time of crisis, an official said, adding that NAC chairman is in New Delhi as part of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's entourage.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 2, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
