Rest In Peace Capt. Ranjan Limbu
Kathmandu – 09 August 2016
On 8th Aug, 2016 another black cloud of tragic crash once again surrounded aviation of Nepal. Different issues regarding flight safety, pilot’s ability, aircraft’s age, meteorological condition, technical aspects, etc. begin to get attentions at the peak in various news medias and public when a helicopter(AS350B2) belonging to Fishtail Air registered as 9N-AKA enroute to Kathmandu from Fidim, Gorkha crashed on the hill of Madanpur-9 of Nuwakot district.
The Pilot In Command Capt. Ranjan Limbu, who had logged more than 2500 flight hours under his belt including six passengers and a child onboard the helicopter tragically perished when the helicopter fell off from the sky. Several interpretations have been made in regard the reasons of crash.
Despite the young age of Capt. Ranjan, his good airmanship and strong dedication of flying had led to accomplishment of several successful rescue operations saving lives of hundreds. He had bold and a very kind personality. Besides flying, his major interest was photography and art too.
After passing out GCE A Level in 2009, Capt. Ranjan Limbu went for pilot training to Ocean Helicopters, Inc. in USA. He successfully achieved Commercial Helicopter Pilot License (CHPL) in 2010 from same Flight Training Organization (FTO). Thereafter returning to Nepal, he began to fly for Fishtail Air as First Officer (F/O) for four years flying out to several extreme remote places of Nepal, indulging in several rescue operations, cargo flights, mountain flights, etc.
On July 2, 2016, Capt. Ranjan Limbu was formally appointed as a Captain by Fishtail Air when he successfully conducted solo flight and logged minimum required flight hours & met other criteria of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). From that day, he devoted almost every moment of his life to flying and serving the people of Nepal.
Talking in regard of rotor wing aviation of Nepal, after being promoted to captain, a pilot requires to fly to extreme remote places of Nepal during the time of rescue operations locating co-ordinates of that place, paying attention to weather, temperature, density of atmosphere present in the route and considering several other factors too Which is really a complex task. It’s not a piece of cake for a helicopter pilot to carry out such flight. Wise and quick decisions are the prime things that every moment pilot need to carryout whenever he/she flies the aircraft.
If we put light on the air crash history of Nepal in the year 2016, Nepal’s aviation has faced five air crashes (3 fixed wings and 2 rotor wings). Among them, 3 air crashes (2 airplanes and 1 helicopter) were fatal.
On this tragic and unexpected demise of beloved Capt. Ranjan Limbu and six passengers onboard the 9N-AKA helicopter, #AviationNepal team extends its deep condolence and grief to their families, colleagues , friends and relatives of bereaved soul and pray for the god for their souls to rest in peace in heaven.
