Incident Overview

Date: Wednesday 24 February 2016
Aircraft Type: Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter 400
Owner/operator: Tara Air
Registration Number: 9N-AHH
Location: Dana, Myagdi district – ÿ Nepal
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 23 / Occupants: 23
Component Affected: Aircraft (DHC-6 Twin Otter 400)Aircraft (DHC-6 Twin Otter 400)
Investigating Agency: Nepal AAICNepal AAIC
Category: Accident
A Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter 400 crashed in the Myagdi district of Nepal, resulting in the deaths of all 23 passengers and crew. The aircraft departed from Pokhara Airport on a domestic flight to Jomsom Airport, deviated to the left, and climbed to 12,000 feet to avoid clouds. The captain disregarded GPWS warnings, leading to a climb and subsequent impact with a mountainside at 10700 feet. The probable cause was a combination of unfavorable weather conditions, repeated cloud entry, and deviation from the normal flight path, resulting in a CFIT accident.A Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter 400 crashed in the Myagdi district of Nepal, resulting in the deaths of all 23 passengers and crew. The aircraft departed from Pokhara Airport on a domestic flight to Jomsom Airport, deviated to the left, and climbed to 12,000 feet to avoid clouds. The captain disregarded GPWS warnings, leading to a climb and subsequent impact with a mountainside at 10700 feet. The probable cause was a combination of unfavorable weather conditions, repeated cloud entry, and deviation from the normal flight path, resulting in a CFIT accident.

Description

A Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter 400, operating Tara Air flight 193, was destroyed in an accident in the Myagdi district, Nepal. All 23 on board suffered fatal injuries. The aircraft departed at 07:50 hours local time from Pokhara Airport (PKR) on a domestic 20-minute flight to Jomsom Airport (JMO), Nepal. The copilot acted as Pilot Flying, the captain as Pilot Monitoring during the flight. En route the flight deviated to the left and climbed to 12000 feet to avoid clouds. Over the Ghorepani area the GPWS began to sound. The aircraft was flying through clouds with a little visibility in between and a descent to 10000 feet was initiated. At 10200 feet the GPWS sounded again but the captain responded not to worry about it. The captain was used to hearing these warnings in normal flight, so it became a habit to disregard the warnings. About one minute before the accident the captain took over control and initiated a climb. The aircraft impacted a mountainside at 10700 feet, coming to rest at an elevation of 10982 feet. According to a statement by the airline, the aircraft crashed near Tirkhe Dungha, Dana VDC of Myagdi district. Probable Cause: The Commission concludes that the probable cause of this accident was the fact that despite of unfavourable weather conditions, the crew’s repeated decision to enter into cloud during VFR flight and their deviation from the normal track due to loss of situational awareness aggravated by spatial disorientation leading to CFIT accident.

Source of Information

https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/tara-twin-otter-plane-with-17-people-on-board-missing/, http://www.taraair.com/https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/tara-twin-otter-plane-with-17-people-on-board-missing/, http://www.taraair.com/

Primary Cause

Repeated cloud entry and deviation from normal flight path due to loss of situational awareness, exacerbated by spatial disorientation.Repeated cloud entry and deviation from normal flight path due to loss of situational awareness, exacerbated by spatial disorientation.

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