Agni Air Flight 101

Agni Air Flight 101

The aircraft, 9N-AHE, 4 months prior to the incident
Accident summary
Date 24 August 2010
Summary Spatial disorientation
Site near Shikharpur, 50 mi (80 km) south of Kathmandu[1]
Nepal Nepal
27°23′24″N 85°18′00″E / 27.39000°N 85.30000°E / 27.39000; 85.30000Coordinates: 27°23′24″N 85°18′00″E / 27.39000°N 85.30000°E / 27.39000; 85.30000
Passengers 11
Crew 3
Fatalities 14 (all)
Survivors 0
Aircraft type Dornier Do 228-101
Registration 9N-AHE
Flight origin Tribhuvan International Airport
Destination Tenzing-Hillary Airport
Location of the accident shown within Nepal.

Agni Air Flight 101 was a regional flight operated by Agni Air between Kathmandu, Nepal, and Lukla, Nepal, that crashed on 24 August 2010, killing all 14 people on board. Twenty minutes after take-off from Kathmandu, the flight crew had reported technical issues with the aircraft, and requested a return to the airport; they were, however, diverted to a different airport. Five minutes after this transmission contact with the aircraft was lost; the aircraft was found crashed 50 miles (80 km) south of Kathmandu.

Initial reports suggested the crash had been caused by a combination of severe weather and mechanical problems with the aircraft. The investigation into the accident, however, found the cause was spatial disorientation following the loss of a flight instrument after both generators failed. Backup battery power was exhausted early, due to the crew using an outdated checklist and not adhering to a checklist.

Background

The plane involved, a Dornier 228 turboprop plane, registered as 9N-AHE, was traveling on a flight between Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, Nepal.[2][3] 20 minutes after take-off, the crew of the aircraft contacted air traffic control reporting technical problems and requesting a return to Kathmandu.[4]

Controllers then diverted the aircraft to Simara Airport in Pipara Simara, Nepal, due to poor weather conditions at Kathmandu. Aviation officials said although the flight crew reported technical problems, they did not declare an emergency or request priority clearance to land.[4] It was not clear what technical problems the crew had reported were; some reports suggested an engine failure had occurred, other reports indicated a generator failure had occurred aboard the aircraft.[4]

Five minutes after reporting issues with the aircraft, radar and radio contact with the aircraft was lost.[4] The aircraft crashed in the town of Shikharpur, Narayani, around 50 miles (80 km) south of Kathmandu.[5] Witnesses reported there was no noise from the engines prior to the crash. The force of the crash spread wreckage in an area with a diameter of around 330 feet (100 m); and the aircraft created a crater 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep upon crashing.[4]

Casualties

All on board died in the crash; they included eight Nepalese citizens, as well as six foreigners.[3] Of the foreigners, four were American women, one was a Briton, and one was Japanese.[6]

Nationality[6] Fatalities[6] Total[6]
Passengers Crew
Nepal Nepal 5 3 8
United States United States 4 0 4
Japan Japan 1 0 1
United Kingdom United Kingdom 1 0 1
Total 11 3 14

Investigation

Rescue operations were immediately undertaken after it became clear that the plane had crashed, although efforts were hampered by the fact that the crash site was around two hours away from the closest location of police forces.[3] Heavy rains in the area also led to the risk of flooding and landslides.[4] Personnel from the Nepalese Army reached the site of the crash on foot, and were responsible for gathering bodies, but due to weather conditions, helicopters were forced to land more than a mile away.[5] Authorities announced a reward of Rs. 50,000 for anyone who would find equipment that would help authorities discover the cause of the crash.[7] By 2 September, both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder of the crashed aircraft had been located; both were undamaged and were analysed by investigators in India.[8][9] The government of Nepal formed a five-member panel to help determine the cause of the crash;[7] the committee was instructed to submit a report on the crash within 65 days.[5]

Despite initial reports that technical issues had resulted in the accident,[3][5] the cause was found to be spatial disorientation of the pilot following the loss of the attitude indicator. Flying in poor weather conditions,[3][5] the flight crew would have had to rely only on their instruments; such a situation is known as instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The failure of the attitude indicator was caused by the failure of both generators and the crew using an outdated checklist and not adhering to a checklist; the battery was therefore drained of power in less than half the time that it should have been able to supply power for.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Everest plane crash: Briton among the dead". Daily Mirror. 24 August 2010.
  2. ↑ "Rescue operations ongoing at Agni Air Dornier 228 crash site". Flightglobal.com. 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on 27 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "14, include 6 foreigners killed in air crash". Hindustan Times. 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on 24 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Crash: Agni D228 at Bastipur on Aug 24th 2010, technical problems". The Aviation Herald. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "4 Americans among 14 killed in plane crash in Nepal". Los Angeles Times. 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Six foreigners among 14 killed in Agni Air crash". The Himalayan. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  7. 1 2 "'Black box' found from Agni Air crash site." The Himalayan Times. 31 August 2010. Retrieved on 17 September 2010.
  8. ↑ "Searchers recover recorders from crashed Agni Air Dornier 228". Flightglobal.com. 2 September 2010. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  9. ↑ Shrestha, Dambar Krishna. "Hotel Echo's last minutes." Nepali Times. Issue No. 518, 3–9 September 2010. Retrieved on 17 September 2010.
  10. ↑ Hradecky, Simon (22 November 2010). "Crash: Agni D228 at Bastipur on Aug 24th 2010, dual generator failure". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 24 November 2010.

External links

External images
Photos of 9N-AHE at Airliners.net
Photos of 9N-AHE at JetPhotos.net
Photo of 9N-AHE cockpit at Flickr
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