June 9, 2017
The two Twin Otter; ‘9N-ABU’ and ‘9N-ABT’ belonging to Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) initiated its flight operation after the replacement of its fire extinguisher at their engine infrastructure. The domestic flight operation of NAC remained disturbed for some time after the grounding of its two Twin Otter and an MA-60 aircraft.
One of NAC’s two MA-60 with registration ‘9N-AKR’ is under maintenance after it suffered bird strike when it was en route to Kathmandu from Biratnagar. The aircraft encountered damage on its leading edge. The Engineering Director of NAC told, “Three members Chinese engineering team have arrived Nepal to carry out the maintenance of the MA-60 aircraft so, the maintenance work will be initiated soon.”
The flight operation of Harbin Y12-e is not going well due to shortage of commanding pilots. Till date, NAC has 11 pilots to fly the Harbin Y12E aircraft. Recently, Nepal Airlines terminated Senior Pilot Captain Nependra Bhattrai from his work whereas another Captain Sanjay Bade Shrestha is grounded until further announcement. Both the pilots were hired by Nepal Airlines from Bhadra 2071 to fly on the STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) routes of Nepal on Chinese Made Harbin Y12-e aircraft. NAC has also hired an instructor pilot for Harbin Y12-e from New Zealand.
All these setbacks have been proving NAC’s managerial condition to be feeble. It is urgency for NAC to make right move at the right time to continue smooth flow of operation.
