Pilots at fault in Jomsom Tara air plane crash

KATHMANDU, Feb 23: The Air Crash Investigation Commission has pointed out the mistake of crew members of Twin-Otter plane of Tara Air that met with an accident at Jomsom in Mustang district.

The final report of the investigation was submitted to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sudan Kirati on Wednesday.

Twenty-two passengers including crew members were killed when Tara Air’s Twin-Otter 9N-AET-DHC-6-300 flying to Jomsom from Pokhara met with an accident in Mustang on May 29, 2022.

As per the report, the Terrain Avoidance and Warning System (TAWS) that gives an information about the mountain ahead and its risk remained closed in the aircraft. So the crew members did not get the information about it.

The government on May 30 had formed Air Crash Investigation Commission under leadership of former Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Ratish Chandra Lal Suman.

Captain Dipu Jwarchan, senior maintenance engineer Upendra Lal Shrestha, senior meteorologist Mani Ratna Shakya were the members of the commission while Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane the member-secretary.

The report states that the plane hit a mountain after the crew members failed to utilize the TAWS system installed in the aircraft in an appropriate manner.