-KATHMANDU
The AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION COMMISSION, 2018 has published the Preliminary Report on the Aircraft involved in crash at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal on 12 March, 2018; Flight UBG 211 (Callsign Bangla Star 211), Aircraft Registration S2-AGU, Type DHC-8 Q 400, MSN 4041, Sector Dhaka to Kathmandu, Owned and Operated by US Bangla Airlines Ltd of Bangladesh
The preliminary report was published as accordance to the requirement of ICAO Annex 13 and Civil Aviation (Accident Investigation) Regulation 2016 of Nepal, this Preliminary Report has been prepared within the given time frame (30 days) following the aircraft accident in order to present an updated status of the investigation on the aforementioned accident.
While this report is being circulated to different States in conformance with Chapter 7, Section 7.1 of ICAO Annex 13, the final report, once completed, will represent the complete investigation report and will be made available to public in due course of time. The investigation team had submitted the Preliminary report to Minister of Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) Mr. Rabindra Adhikari on Monday, April 09, 2018. The preliminary report by the Minister will be presented in the cabinet.
As per to the report, the air traffic controllers at the airport have not been able to make the right decision at the time. In the initial report, the accident took place after the pilot followed the missed approach procedure losing 52 souls at the accident. This preliminary report has been prepared based on the initial information gathered from the crash site of DHC-8 Q 400 aircraft owned and operated by US-Bangla Airlines Ltd which met with an accident at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on 12 March, 2018 and the documents so far obtained from all involved Authorities and Organizations.
The Government of Nepal had formed an Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission on 12 March, 2018 as per the existing Civil Aviation (Accident Investigation) Regulation 2016 of Nepal. The ‘Notification’ of accident was sent to applicable National and International Authorities as per Chapter 4, Section 4.1 of ICAO Annex 13.
The aircraft was on an approach to land at TIA, when it crashed in the Eastern part of the field of Runway 02, just outside the inner perimeter fence of the aerodrome. The aircraft was scheduled to arrive from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka, Bangladesh with 67 passengers and 4 crew members onboard to TIA, Kathmandu, Nepal. The aircraft crashed at 0834:10 UTC (1419:10 LT) causing total fatality of 51 people at the time of preparation of this report (09 April 2018). At the crash site, the aircraft was found mostly burnt and completely damaged as it caught fire that engulfed major portions of aircraft at the point of its resting.
According to the eye witnesses and the statements submitted by the RFF personnel, the rescue and firefighting team immediately rushed to the crash site fought the fire and rescued survivors and victims with utmost efficiency.
The Commission is collecting and analyzing all the evidences and the relevant documents for necessary investigation. The aircraft equipment such as the PSEU, EGPWS, EMU, QAR, CVR and DFDR already dispatched, have been received by TSB Canada for downloading, decoding, readout and analysis including animation.
The process of Investigation is ongoing and, in the interest of accident prevention, the Commission shall make the final report publicly available as per the provisions outlined in Chapter 6, Section 6.5 of ICAO Annex 13.
The also report states that “If the report cannot be made publicly available within twelve months, the Commission shall, in conformance with Chapter 6, Section 6.6 of ICAO Annex 13, make an interim statement publicly available on each anniversary of the occurrence, detailing the progress of the investigation and any safety issues raised.”
