(RepublicanView.org) – An investigator’s report into a plane crash in Nepal last year found that pilot error was the likely cause. The crash happened in January 2023 and killed 72 people, including two Americans. The Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara plummeted onto the Himalayas and was one of several deadly air incidents over the past three decades.
In the December report, investigators said the pilot mistakenly cut the plane’s power, causing an “aerodynamic stall” that brought the aircraft down. The report described the error as an “inadvertent movement of both condition levers to the feathered position.” This resulted in the “feathering of both propellers and subsequent loss of thrust,” which, in turn, led to “an aerodynamic stall and collision with terrain.”
The last time Kathmandu experienced such a deadly plane crash was in 1992, when a Pakistani Airlines jet smashed into a hillside during its descent to Kathmandu airport and killed all 167 people on board.
Nepal is home to some of the world’s highest mountains, including Everest, and is prone to sudden weather alterations, meaning air travel can be dangerous. Almost 350 people have died in aircraft incidents near its mountains since 2000.
In December 2023, the European Union extended its decade-long ban on Nepali airlines from Europe’s skies. The EU Air Safety List contains non-European airlines prohibited from flying in Europe due to safety concerns. A group of air safety experts compiles the list, and Nepal was added in 2012.
Nepalese officials say the ban’s extension risks destroying that country’s reputation and damaging its tourism industry.
A total of 129 airlines are banned from flying in the European Union. These include 22 Russian operators and airlines from Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Suriname, Iran, and Iraq. Fly Baghdad was the latest addition to the list in November, and decisions are determined by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) based on whether an airline meets the safety standards determined by a team of European Commission specialists.
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