Twin otter down in Nepal

[seniorpumpkin]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jhm ... oYkoJR366Q

[wallypilot]

Condolences to all. This sucks.

anyone know who the flight crew was? I am hoping it wasn't AS.

[Panama Jack]

During an in-flight conversation yesterday, the Captain I was flying with told me that on his last lay-over in Kathmandu, his First Officer mentioned that he was thinking on taking one of these scenic flights. The Captain talked him out of it, with some sort of dialogue along the lines of "Are you out of your mind? What kind of safety measures do you think these little air operators take?"

Later that evening the news came in about the crashed Twin Otter. Small world.

[carholme]

http://www.avherald.com/h?article=40df1dd9&opt=0

Some good video of the airport. In the lower video which shows aircraft landing, note the one a/c leaving the ramp onto the active while the other one is landing.

carholme

[bob sacamano]

I'm sure the aircraft that was backtracking got the ok from the landing aircraft to enter and backtrack.

They even had guys watching their wings while they park, looked pretty organized to me.

[seniorpumpkin]

I'm going to go right ahead and say that this looks like a challenging place operate out of. The elevation is over 9,000ft! I can see how maybe at that altitude, a last minute go-around wouldn't be such a good option, especially with a full load.

[Rockie]

Reminds me of Anglemont B.C. Except about 8000 ft higher.

[just curious]

It's instructive to note that the Otter departing in the video didn't rotate until the end of the strip, and even then just maintained level flight.

A missed approach with that sort of density altitude wouldn't have been easy.

[goaroundthrust]

Sad news indeed. I trained with a guy way back in the days, who was from Nepal. Great Kid. I found out years later that he also died in a twin otter crash in Nepal. My thoughts and prayers go out to all involved.

[Panama Jack]

Looks like the grim reaper of VFR into IMC claims another statistic:

Crew blamed for crash near Mount Everest in Nepal

27 mins ago

KATMANDU, Nepal – Nepalese investigators probing a plane crash near Mount Everest have blamed the pilots for the accident that killed 18 people, a report said Thursday.

The report said the two pilots misjudged deteriorating weather conditions and flew inside a patch of fog while trying to land at Lukla airport, which is carved into the side of the Himalayas at an altitude of 9,200 feet (2,800 meters).

The DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter plane belonging to Yeti Airlines then hit a rock on the side of the runway and burst into flames on Oct. 8.

The investigators interviewed several eyewitnesses and visited the accident site in the foothills of Everest.

Of the 19 people on board the flight from Katmandu, only the captain survived the crash. Twelve Germans, two Australians and four Nepalese were killed.

The tiny Lukla airport is known for its dramatic scenery and a runway that ends in a steep drop of a few hundred feet (meters). It is an important jumping-off point for trekkers and mountaineers heading to Mount Everest.

[rigpiggy]

GodSpeed, there but for the grace of God go I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa5XRR88uPY

[Just another canuck]

This shit happens all the time over there... you only hear about a small fraction of the crashes. And as far as challenging goes, this place isn't even that bad... actually, it looks pretty easy to me. At least it's sealed.

[Panama Jack]

Here is the latest one, on Xmas eve as misfortune would have it:

[Just another canuck]

Panama Jack, there's nothing there.

[rum-runner]

Panama Jack, there's nothing there.

If you right click on the image box..select properties...copy and paste the link to a browser..
you will see the pic..

or

http://avherald.com/img/nepal_twinotter ... 1224_2.jpg

[Just another canuck]

Thanks rum-....

that one doesn't look so bad, but how the hell did he manage that? Seeing some of these twotter accidents is an embarrassment to the name de Havilland. These crews take a plane you can land on a postage stamp and make a mockery out of it.

[Swerved]

I've been a passenger on a Twin Otter flying out of Lukla (was glad I hadn't flown in once I got a look at the airport), and I can tell you that it's quite a sight to behold. We stood on the ramp for a couple of hours, wondering if/when our plane would get in. On a day like the one where the accident took place, you hear the planes coming in, giving it a shot, and most likely leaving again back to Kathmandu. Occasionally you'd hear the screech of tires on the runway, and remarkably, someone had managed to land (don't ask me how). I'm not sure exactly how they conducted a missed approach once they had gone as low as it sounded they had (must involve a very steep turn), as you can only land in the one direction, and considering the runway is carved out of a very steep mountainside, there's not much room for error. I'm sure by now they have a GPS-based approach, but when I was there in 2001, I heard (through the grapevine, mind you) that they didn't have much in the way of navigation tools to help them get in. Either way, I was glad to get out alive (I've never been more nervous on a plane, and I'm NOT a nervous person!), and I send my condolences to the victims of the latest crash... I'd imagine a group of tourists about to embark on the trip of a lifetime... very sad indeed.

Swerved

[skymarc]

Look at the Twin Otter in the video that didnt bother to back track the last 2-300 ft of runway. I dont know but at this elevation and density altitude I would take every inchs of runway ?

[Just another canuck]

With a slope like that, you get moving pretty quick... probably still a good idea to use all available runway though.