The aircraft’s engines were fully functional at the time of the accident.
New Delhi:
Investigation into Yeti Airlines’ crash in Nepal, which killed 71 people last month, points to the high probability of surprising error by one of the pilots. Five Indians were also killed in the crash.
Yeti Airlines Flight 691, which departed from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Jan. 15, crashed moments later into the Seti River gorge between the old airport and the new airport in the resort town of Pokhara.
The preliminary crash report shows that instead of using the lever of the flaps in the cockpit to configure the plane for landing, one of the pilots operated levers that “feathered” the engines – reducing the engine power to zero.
Less than a minute later, the ATR-72 aircraft crashed and came to rest.
The aircraft lost thrust and fell after the propellers of both engines went into spring position. It’s rare for the propellers of both engines to move into a spring position, the report notes.
“When the air traffic controller (ATC) gave clearance to land…, the Pilot Flying (PF) reported twice that there was no power coming from the engines,” the report said.
The aircraft’s engines were fully functional at the time of the accident.
The flight was operated by two captains – one was familiarizing himself for operations in Pokhara. The copilot was an instructor pilot.
The instructor pilot on the plane was Anju Khatiwada, one of six female pilots in the airline. Her husband, Dipak Pokhrel, flew for the same airline and was killed in a crash in 2006.
The crash was captured live by some Indian passengers who also lost their lives.
There were 72 people, including four crew members, on the flight. Rescuers have managed to find only 71 bodies, with the missing passenger presumed dead.
According to the preliminary report, the flight crew had made two flights between Kathmandu and Pokhara earlier in the morning. The crashed flight was the third in a row by the same crew.
Nepal has one of the worst aviation safety records in the world.
