Yeti Airlines Flight 101 was a domestic flight in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, that crashed on

final approach In aeronautics, the final approach (also called the final leg and final approach leg) is the last leg in an aircraft's approach to landing, when the aircraft is lined up with the runway and descending for landing.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of ...

Tenzing-Hillary Airport Tenzing-Hillary Airport , also known as Lukla Airport, is a domestic airport and altiport in the town of Lukla, in Khumbu Pasanglhamu, Solukhumbu District, Province No. 1 of Nepal. It gained worldwide fame as it was rated the most dangerou ...

in the town of

Lukla Lukla ( ne, लुक्ला ) is a small town in the Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality of the Solukhumbu District in the Province No. 1 of north-eastern Nepal. Situated at , it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Eve ...

in eastern

on 8 October 2008. The

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 ...

Series 300 registered as 9N-AFE originated from

Tribhuvan International Airport Tribhuvan International Airport ( Nepali: त्रिभुवन अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय विमानस्थल) (, colloquially referred to as TIA) is an international airport located in Kathmandu, Bagmati, Nepal. I ...

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

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

Yeti Airlines Yeti Airlines Pvt. Ltd. ( ne, यती एअरलाइन्स) is an airline based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The airline was established in May 1998 and received its Air Operators Certificate on 17 August 1998. Since 2019, Yeti Airlines is ...

. Its maiden flight was in 1980 with

Bristow Helicopters Bristow Helicopters Limited is a British civil helicopter operator originally based at Aberdeen Airport, Scotland, which is currently a part of the U.S.-based Bristow Group (, S&P 600 component) which in turn has its corporate headquarters in ...

. The aircraft entered into service in Nepal in 1997, when Lumbini Airways acquired the plane. In 1998, Yeti Airlines bought the plane. In 2006, it already met with a minor incident, when the aircraft collided with a fence upon landing in

Bajura Airport Bajura Airport is a domestic airport located in Budhinanda serving Bajura District, a district in Sudurpashchim Province in Nepal. Facilities The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway which is in lengt ...

. It was involved in another incident, when the aircraft veered off the runway at

Surkhet Airport Surkhet Airport , also known as Birendranagar Airport is a domestic airport located in Birendranagar serving Surkhet District, a district in Karnali Province in Nepal. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal considers it an important hub for cargo ...

in 2007.

Crew and Passengers

Fourteen of the dead were reported to be tourists. Twelve of the passengers on the flight were German and two Australian. The only survivor was Surendra Kunwar, the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the aircraft, who was dragged free from the wreckage shortly after the crash and was flown to

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

for emergency treatment. The pilot, being the only survivor, suffered psychological problems in the aftermath and was admitted to a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

Crash

The airport is the main access to the

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

region in Nepal, and is a notoriously difficult landing, with only of steeply sloped runway just wide and a steep approach path. Due to bad weather conditions and heavy fog, the pilot lost visual contact, nevertheless attempted a

visual approach A visual approach is an approach to a runway at an airport conducted under instrument flight rules (IFR) but where the pilot proceeds by visual reference and clear of clouds to the airport. The pilot must at all times have either the airport or t ...

, as there are no

Instrument landing system In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

s installed at Lukla. The aircraft came in too low and too far left, which caused the aircraft to crash short of the runway, as the

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

got caught in a perimeter fence on airport grounds.

Investigation

A commission was formed to investigate the accident, the final report being published two months later. However, the report only came to wider attention when The Aviation Herald retrieved a copy of it in 2017. The report blamed the crash on the flight crew's misinterpretation of how fast the weather would deteriorate and their expectation of a cloud patch on final approach, which had been reported by previous flights landing in Lukla. Contributing factors included the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and Yeti Airlines both having a poor oversight of pilots deviating from standard operation procedures, the failure of the Automatic Flight Information Service personnel to close the airport as a result of a high work load and stress, and Yeti Airlines going as far as to prioritize economics over safety, leading to improper crew training.

Aftermath

Lukla - Tenzing-Hillary Airport - Memorial for 2008-10-08 disaster

The

safety regulations Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wor ...

at Lukla airport were enhanced and landings in bad weather restricted. A plaque was put up near the crash site and the local people celebrate the victims' memory every year on 8 October.

References

External links

* * {{Aviation accidents and incidents in 2008 Aviation accidents and incidents in 2008 Aviation accidents and incidents in Nepal Accidents and incidents involving the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter October 2008 events in Asia Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather 2008 meteorology 2008 in Nepal 2008 disasters in Nepal Yeti Airlines accidents and incidents