The airline which in its heyday operated 10 Twin Otters, is down to four now. One of the four is grounded while and one other has been leased.
At around 12:45 pm on February 17, 2014 NAC’s flight 183 from Pokhara to Jumla was ready for take off. Thirty minutes after taking off, the 19-seater attempted to divert to Bhairahawa Airport, because of prevailing weather conditions. Radio contact was lost. The plane was officially declared missing.
Although no one witnessed the crash, remains of the aircraft were found near Dhikura village in Argakhanchi. Everyone on board died.
Although no one witnessed the crash, remains of the aircraft were found near Dhikura village in Argakhanchi. Everyone on board died, one of NAC’s last air-worthy de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter was desecrated beyond repair. The corporation, which at one point operated 10 Twin Otters is now operating only two.
Nepal Airlines first acquired a Twin Otter in 1971. The plane was crucial in opening up the mountainous interior of the country. According to pilots who flew the plane, it could land and take off from small and rough airstrips. Thanks to the aircraft, remote areas of the country that would take days to reach on foot were now only minutes away, says NAC spokesperson Ramhari Sharma.
Crash after crash
Two years after Nepal Airlines acquired it first fleet of Twin Otters, the ‘planes started falling from the sky’. The first time the plane crashed was in 1973 in Lukla, the second in 1984 in Bhojpur. Then there were crashes in Lukla (1991) Jumla (1992) Kathmandu (1995), Bajhang (2000), Faplu (2010) Dolpa (2012), Jomsom (2013) and finally in Argakhanchi in 2014. Of the 10, only four survived (NAC operates two of them, one is grounded, and the other has been leased to Tara Air).
What caused the crashes?
Former NAC Director Harihar Sharma lists three factors that contributed to the spate of crashes:
NAC now has two Chinese aircraft: the Xian MA-60 and the Harbin Y-12, and NAC is planning to acquire more Chinese aircraft. But the challenges the Twin Otters faced still remain to be addressed.
