Negligence from authority of Phaplu Airport resulted Sita Air’s incident
April 28, 2017-PHAPLU
Sita Air’s Dornier ‘9N-AHR’ met an incident at Phaplu Airport, Salleri on 23rd April. The incident occurred when the Dornier aircraft hit the wall after landing at Phaplu Airport. Flight 617 was en route to Lukla from Kathmandu but the adverse weather conditions at Lukla compelled it to divert to Phaplu Airport.
The investigation of the incident is going on, however; the negligence from the authority of Phaplu Airport is expected to be the major reason for the incident. Shree Airlines MI-17 helicopter was parked approximately 20m from the runway. The Dornier aircraft suffered damage in its wing tip when the crew attempted to avoid collision with the parked MI-17 during landing.
According to the airport manager, Mr. Amrit Kumar Chaurasiya, the MI-17 belonging to Shree Airlines was parked at Phaplu Airport since one month due to a technical glitch. He also said that the helicopter was parked near the runway for the reason that the usual parking bay was out of service due to the risk of soil erosion.
The parked MI-17 became a serious hazard for Sita Air but the airport authority did not show any concern towards it. The officials from Shree Airlines said that they received all the required permissions to park MI-17 from airport authority. Sita Air, on the other hand, declared that the parked MI-17 was the major reason for the incident. So, it is pretty sure that the airport authority is vitally responsible for the incident that could have been fatal.
Phaplu Airport can hold up to three Twin Otter aircraft in its parking facility. Allowing Shree Airlines to park its MI-17 near the runway was the worst decision from the airport authority as they did not realize the potential hazard it could evolve. Moreover, the airport manager claimed that the incident was a rare case and they did not find the parked Mi-17 to be the hazard for other aircraft. The Mi-17 was removed from the parked site after the incident.
