The DHC-6 plane crash occurred on February 24, 2016 in Nepal, near the village of Dana. Of the 23 people on board (20 passengers (including 2 children) and 3 crew members), all 23 people were killed. 18 passengers and 3 crew members were Nepalese, 1 Chinese and 1 Kuwaiti.
Airplane
Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter (registration number 9N-AHH) was delivered to Tara Air in October 2015, the aircraft originally belonged to Viking Air with registration C-GUVT.
The crew
| Position | Full name |
|---|---|
| KVS | Roshan Manandhar |
| Co-pilot | Dikesh Nemkul |
| Stewardess | Roma Routh |
The commander of the aircraft was a 52-year-old man who had more than 20,000 flight hours, including 18,500 hours in the DHC type.
The co-pilot was a 30-year-old man who had more than 760 flight hours, including 500 hours in the DHC type.
The role of the flight attendant was a 27-year-old girl who started work in December 2014.
Flight
The plane was operating a 20-minute flight TA193 from Pokhara to Jomsom, Nepal.
07:50 NPT
The plane took off from Pokhara Airport, the co-pilot acted as the pilot, as the captain watched the flight progress. During the flight, the plane veered to the left and gained an altitude of 12,000 feet (3,600 m) to avoid clouds. GPWS (a system designed to alert pilots if their aircraft is in immediate danger of crashing into the ground or an obstacle) operates over Gorepani.
After a while, a descent to 10,000 feet (3,400 m) was initiated as the plane flew through clouds and visibility It was low, at an altitude of 10,200 feet (3,100 m), the GPWS signal sounded again, however, due to the increased terrain in Nepal, the captain ignored it, since this signal was triggered quite often. After about a minute, the captain took control and began climbing.
Disaster
07:58 NPT
The controllers lost contact with the plane.
The plane crashed into a mountainside at an altitude of 10,700 ft (3,300 m) and stopped at an altitude of 10,900 ft (3,300 m) near Tirhe Dungha, Dana VDC of Myagdi district.
Search operation
A few minutes after the crash, helicopters were deployed to search the flight route, but due to bad weather conditions, including fog and heavy rain, the search and rescue team was delayed. At 13:25 , a police team deployed from the Dana police post found the wreckage of the plane with visible charred bodies, about 17 bodies were recovered by the rescue team.
Dmitry Komarov and Alexander Dmitriev, the presenter and operator of the TV program "The world inside out", took part in the rescue operation, they originally wanted to fly on the crashed flight. They helped the military and police during the search for flight recorders in exchange for the evacuation of Alexander Dmitriev, who injured his knee ligament, and it was problematic and painful for him to descend. As a result, the military flew away without taking Alexander, but fortunately, with the help of Dmitry , he was able to get to the city, where he was evacuated. Read more in the episode The Terrible plane crash in the Himalayas.
According to the investigation document:
The aircraft was found with one section of the fuselage, a detached tail and scattered main struts landing gear, propellers and fairings. The fuselage, lying on the upper side, was mostly engulfed in flames. Instrument panels They were damaged by the force of the impact and partially destroyed by fire, and all hoods and fairings were in a damaged condition.
Memories
Nabin Khadka, a local resident from Dana-1, who arrived at the crash site with police Sergeant Ful Kumar Thapa Magarom reported that the wreckage of the plane is scattered, and the aircraft is still burning.
The plane is still on fire
" he said during a phone conversation with The Post. Thapa reported that the weather in the area of the crash was extremely cold, and it was probably raining.
The words of one of the participants in the rescue operation
All the bodies were burned to the point where they could not be recognized
The dead
The names of 2 children remained unknown.
- MR. AHAMAD AA, RALRASHED (Kuwait)
- MR. BARAL, REBATI PRASAD (Nepali)
- MR. BASTOLA, MUKTINATH (Nepalese)
- MISS. BHATTACHAN, BINATA (Nepali)
- MR. BHATTACHAN, KRISHNLAL (Nepali)
- MISS GAUCHAN, DILKUMARI (Nepalese)
- MR. GURLING, DEVI JANG (Nepalese)
- MR. GURLING, FENJOCK (Nepalese)
- MR. HERACHAN, LAXMI PRASAD (Nepalese)
- MR. KC, MOTI BOR (Nepalese)
- MISS. KC, PABITRA (Nepali)
- MRS. LAMA LEPSANG (Nepalese)
- MR. NIURE, BALKRISHNA (Nepalese)
- MR. PARYER, KANCHA (Nepalese)
- MRS. SHERPA, DOLMA TSHIRING (Nepalese)
- MR. TAMANG, RAJKUMAR (Nepalese)
- MISS. THAKALI, KAMALA (Nepali)
- MISS. MING, YAK SU (Chinese)
Decryption of flight recorders
| Time | Information |
|---|---|
| 02:14 | The crew compares the height of the clouds with the previous day and suggests continuing the ascent to 12,500 feet if they do not find themselves above the clouds at an altitude of 10,500 feet. |
| 02:14 | When approaching the Gorepani area and at an altitude of 11,400 feet, the captain tells the co-pilot to maintain the level between the cloud layers and informs about a possible left turn if necessary. |
| 02:15 | The captain informs the dispatcher that he is above Gorepani at an altitude of 10,500 feet and the frequency is being changed to the Jomsom tower. |
| 02:15:27 | The captain instructs the co-pilot to maintain a course of 330° and the flight level below the clouds, after which a shallow descent begins. |
| 02:15:55 | At an altitude of 11,000 feet, an overspeed warning is triggered when the speed reaches 152 knots. |
| 02:16 | There is a conversation about the visual on the left side, and the co-pilot reports that he sees a little. |
| 02:17:58 | The EGPWS warning about the proximity of the earth sounds when the aircraft is at an altitude of 10,200 feet and makes a shallow tilt to the right about 3°. |
| 02:18:06 | At an altitude of 10,100 feet, a "PULL UP" warning is triggered, to which the captain says not to worry. |
| 02:18:12 | At an altitude of 10,000 feet, the captain takes control, continues to descend and asks the co-pilot about the visual on his part. |
| 02:18:23 | At an altitude of 9,850 feet, the aircraft begins a very shallow ascent. |
| 02:18:35 | The captain reports that they have reached the Latte checkpoint, and the "PULL UP" warning continues to sound. |
| 02:18:44 | The captain says that he is going to turn on the course of the Lette, and the "PULL UP" warning continues to sound. |
| 02:18:49 | At an altitude of 10,300 feet, the slope to the right increases to 16° with an angle of attack of 7°. |
| 02:18:52 | The captain reports that he will begin climbing when the aircraft reaches 10,350 feet, with an angle of attack of 10° and still tilted to the right. |
| 02:18:53 | The aircraft returns to the horizontal position and begins a shallow tilt to the left with an angle of attack of 12 °. |
| 02:18:57 | The slope to the left reaches 20° with an angle of attack of 11.8° and a height of 10,550 feet. |
| 02:19:03 | The latest data in the FDR is recorded at an altitude of about 10,700 feet with an angle of attack of 7° and a tilt to the left of 25°, a course of 335°, with an EGPWS "PULL UP" warning. |
Reasons
The Government's Aviation Accident Investigation Commission of Nepal has been tasked with investigating the cause of the accident. A few days later, the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were retrieved from the aircraft.
The investigation revealed that human error could have caused the crash, and it was later found out that it could have been flight according to visual rules (VFR) in conditions of instrumental meteorological control (IMC), as well as controlled flight into ground obstacles (CFIT). The Committee of Inquiry issued this statement in a document:
The Commission concluded that the most likely cause of this accident was that, despite adverse meteorological conditions, the crew decided to repeatedly enter the clouds during the flight according to visual rules (> VFR) and deviated from the normal route due to loss of situational perception, aggravated by spatial disorientation, which led to a CFIT type accident.
Learn more
A plane with 21 passengers on board has disappeared in Nepal | Medusa
Crash: Tara DHC6 near Pokhara on Feb 24th 2016, aircraft impacted terrain
Chances of finding Tara Air passengers alive slim: Nepal Army
A terrible plane crash in the Himalayas. Nepal. The World Inside Out - Episode 2, Season 8 - YouTube