Nepal and its Long History of Air Crashes
12 July 1969:
a Douglas DC-3 plane of Royal Nepal Airlines crashed while going from Tribhuvan International Airport to Simara Airport in Hetauda. All 31 passengers and four crew aboard the plane were killed in this crash.
31 July 1992:
an Airbus A310-304 registered to Thai Airlines crashed on its approach to Kathmandu airport from Bangkok into a mountain about 37 km north of the airport killing all 99 passengers and 14 crew members on board. Miscommunication, weather conditions and event equipment failure were attributed as reasons for this crash.
28 September 1992:
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268, an Airbus A300, crashed while approaching Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport. All 167 people on board including passengers and crew were killed. Flight 268 is considered to be the worst crash for Pakistan International Airlines and the worst ever to occur in Nepal as a large number fo the passengers of this flight were European.
31 July 1993:
a Dornier 228 turboprop aircraft operated by Nepal-based Everest Air caring 16 passengers and three crew crashed in Tanahun District near Chule Ghopte hill, Nepal. The crash killed all of the 19 passengers and crew on board. The failure of a radio beacon to mark a location due to heavy flooding was attributed as the reason for the crash.
27 July 2000:
a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Royal Nepal Airlines crashed while going from Bajhang Airport to Dhangadhi Airport on a domestic flight. The wreckage was found in the Jogbuda region of the Dadeldhura District. All 22 passengers and the three crew aboard were killed in the crash. The reason was mentioned to be a collision with trees.
12 November 2001:
a chartered Fishtail Air Eurocopter AS350 helicopter crashed during a flight from Gamgadhi Army Base to Surkhet in Western Nepal. The accident killed all 6 passengers and crew on board, including Princess Prekshya Shah of Nepal. The reason was quoted as the loss of control of the aircraft by the pilot while trying to navigate a turn.
23 September 2006:
a Shree Air Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashed during a chartered flight from Phungling to Ghunsa in Eastern Nepal. All 22 passengers and 2 crew on board were killed in this crash. These included an expedition of the World Wide Fund for Nature and a politician. Cloudy weather, lack of familiarity with the terrain and lack of ample training were cited as the causes.
25 September 2011:
a Beechcraft 1900D commuter aircraft operated by Buddha Air Flight crashed near the Lalitpur region of Nepal while attempting to land in poor weather at the Kathmandu Airport killing all 19 passengers and crew on board were killed. The flight was carrying tourists on a sightseeing expedition to Mt Everest and pilot error was given as the reason.
14 May 2012:
a Dornier 228-passenger aircraft registered with Agni Air crashed near Jomsom Airport in Nepal, killing 15 of the 21 people on board. Out of the dead, 2 were the pilot and the co-pilot and 13 were passengers. Indian child actress Taruni Sachdev and her mother were among those who died in this accident.
12 May 2015:
a US Marine Corps Bell UH-1Y Venom crashed in the Charikot region of Nepal during Operation Sahayogi Haat. The soldiers were attempting to provide relief to the earthquake victims in the far-off regions of the country. Unfamiliar terrain and cloudy weather led to the crashing of the aircraft and the killing of all 13 onboard.
26 February 2016:
an Air Kasthamandap PAC 750XL passenger aircraft with eleven people on board crashed in the Chilkhaya region in the Kalikot district of Nepal. It killed the two crew members and injured all nine passengers on board. Engine failure was the main cause of the mishap that happened during an attempted emergency landing.
12 March 2018:
a Bombardier Q400 operated by US-Bangla Airlines, burst into flames after a crash while trying to land. The flight was travelling from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal and 51 out of 71 onboard died in the incident. Severe mental stress, fatigue and lack of sleep by the pilot were attributed as the main reason for this crash.
27 February 2019:
An Eurocopter AS350 B3e belonging to Air Dynasty and carrying six passengers and one pilot was scheduled to travel crashed during a domestic chartered flight from Pathibhara Devi Temple in Taplejung to Chuhandanda in the Tehrathum region of Nepal. Rabindra Prasad Adhikari the Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation was among the seven casualties of this crash. Violation of operating procedures, misbalance of weights and inexperience of the pilot were quoted as the reasons.
29 May 2022:
a Twin Otter aircraft belonging to Tara Air carrying 19 passengers and 3 crew members departed at 09:55 NPT from Pokhara towards Jomsom and lost contact with air traffic controllers about 12 minutes later at 10:07 .The wreckage was located 20 hours later on a mountainside and all dead bodies were later recovered from the site. The crash site could be located after tracking the location of the pilot's phone.
15 January 2023:
an ATR 72 aircraft belonging to Yeti Airlines crashed a few kilometres outside the Pokhara airport. All 72 onboard the plane are expected to have died in the crash. An investigation is still underway regarding the reasons, but videos showed the plane suddenly turning to one side before crashing and bursting into flight.
