Pilot Error Suspected as Cause of Nepal Crash That Killed 72 People: Report

A French investigating team investigates the wreckage of a Yeti Airlines operated aircraft in Pokhara, Nepal, on Jan. 18, 2023. Krishna Mani Baral/Reuters

The plane crash that occurred in Nepal on Jan. 15 that killed all 72 people on board may have been caused by the pilot pulling the wrong lever during the descent, according to a preliminary investigative report.

The Yeti Airlines aircraft crashed just before landing in Pokhara on Jan. 15 in one of Nepal’s worst airplane crashes in 30 years. Rescuers recovered 71 bodies, with one unaccounted-for person presumed to be dead.

The Nepalese Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission released its preliminary report (pdf) on Feb. 13, suggesting that the pilot may have accidentally pulled the wrong lever, causing the propellers to be feathered.

“The flight data recorder (FDR) data did not record any flap surface movement at that time,” the report states. “Instead, the propeller rotation speed of both engines decreased simultaneously to less than 25 percent and the torque started decreasing to [zero] percent, which is consistent with both propellers going into the feathered condition.”

Rescuers scour the crash site in the wreckage of a passenger plane in Pokhara, Nepal, on Jan. 16, 2023. Yunish Gurung/AP Photo

“When both propellers were feathered, the investigation team observed that both engines of 9N-ANC were running flight idle condition during the event flight to prevent over torque,” it added.

Pilot Reported No Power in Engines

According to the report, when the air traffic controller in Pokhara gave clearance for landing, the lead captain mentioned twice that there was no power in the engines. The lead captain then handed over control of the aircraft to the co-pilot and “repeated again that there was no power from the engines,” the report stated.

The report also revealed that the sky was almost clear at the time of the plane crash, with only a few clouds present. The information in the preliminary report may change as the investigation progresses, it said.

Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary for the Tourism Ministry, told The Kathmandu Post that authorities are still investigating why the pilots delayed extending the flaps and why they disregarded the routine checklists.

Nepalese rescue workers inspect wreckage at the site of a plane crash in Pokhara, Nepal, on Jan. 16, 2023. Krishna Mani Baral/AP Photo

The investigation committee previously suspected that a faulty engine likely led to the plane crash after analyzing data from the flight recorder and cockpit voice recorder of the Yeti Airlines ATR-72 aircraft.

“In ATR-72 aircraft feather means to stay inclined to 90 degrees in spite of being in a certain degree as turned by the pilots,” the committee stated in its report issued earlier this month.

“In order to increase the speed, the pilot has to incline the propeller blade using the lever that is in the cockpit. With the propeller blade standing at 90 degrees, the plane would lose aerodynamic movement,” it added.

The crash is Nepal’s deadliest since 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed into a hill as it tried to land in Kathmandu, killing all 167 people on board. There have been 42 fatal plane crashes in Nepal since 1946, according to the Safety Matters Foundation.

A 2019 safety report from Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority said the country’s “hostile topography” and “diverse weather patterns” were the biggest dangers to flights in the country.

The European Union has banned airlines from Nepal from flying to the 27-nation bloc since 2013, citing weak safety standards. In 2017, the International Civil Aviation Organization cited improvements in Nepal’s aviation sector, but the EU continues to demand administrative reforms.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.