On 22 August 2002, a Shangri-La Air DHC-6 Twin Otter crashed against a hill 5 kilometers south-east of

Pokhara Pokhara ( ne, पोखरा, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. It is the List of cities in Nepal, second most populous city of Nepal after Kathmandu, with 518,452 inhabitants living ...

, which was completely clouded following three days of continuous rains.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the crash was a

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

operated by Shangri-La Air. Its maiden flight was in 1981 with the LIAT of Antigua and Barbuda.

Crew and Passengers

All occupants on board died in the crash; they included thirteen German citizens, one Briton and one American as well as three Nepalese crew members.

Accident

The flight operated as a tourist charter flight and was coming from

Jomsom Jomsom (), (Ward No. 4 of Gharpajhong Rural Municipality) also known as Dzongsam (New Fort) is the centre of Gharapjhong rural municipality in Mustang district and a former independent village development committee situated at an altitude of ...

. On approach to Pokhara, it crashed into a hill that was hidden in the clouds. The route out of Jomsom is considered as challenging for pilots, as they have to manoeuvre the aircraft through a deep gorge between Mount Annapurna and Mount Dhaulagiri. By late afternoon on August 23, the wreckage was found near the village of Dopahar. The bodies were recovered and were flown to Kathmandu in army helicopters.

Aftermath

As there were 13 German victims, Germany was particularly involved in the aftermath of the accident. Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer offered his condolences to the families. The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) sent a team to Nepal to investigate the crash, however, the plane was not fitted with a flight data recorder as this was not required under Nepal laws.

References

External links

Video of the crash site
from '' Associated Press Archive'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Shangri-La Air Twin Otter Crash, 2002 2002 disasters in Nepal Aviation accidents and incidents in 2002 Aviation accidents and incidents in Nepal 2002 in Nepal Accidents and incidents involving the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter