KATHMANDU – A plane crash that killed dozens of people in Nepal in January was caused by a pilot who pulled the incorrect levers while trying to land, investigators said on Dec 28.
The pilot changed the propeller angle instead of that of the wing flaps, causing a Yeti Airlines plane to lose momentum and fall, killing all 72 people on board, a report by a committee formed by the Nepali government noted.
The ATR-72 twin-engine propeller aircraft was on a half-hour flight from the capital Kathmandu, carrying 68 passengers and four crew members when it crashed on Jan 15. The pilots were trying to land in Pokhara, a picturesque vacation town in the Himalayas.
As they prepared for landing, at less than 220m from the ground, one of the pilots called for the wing flaps to be adjusted. The second pilot mistakenly moved the condition levers, which control the propellers and are situated next to the flap lever, to a position called “feathered”, investigators said.
The feathering of a propeller, which reduces drag, is typically done when an engine is shut down, the report said, and can be done automatically or manually.
That error let air through the propellers, instead of pushing it backwards to propel the plane and keep it airborne, the report added. Soon after, one of the pilots reported that there was no power from the engine.
Pokhara’s new airport was weeks old at the time, and the crew had not received skill-based training for the airport, the report said. It was also the first pilot’s first attempt at landing on that runway and the third time for the second pilot. The crew were probably distracted, the report said, because the pilots were occupied with providing instructions instead of focused on their duties.
Those factors caused the pilots to misidentify the levers and miss the indicators that the propellers had been feathered, the investigators concluded, citing factors including a high workload and stress.
The plane lost thrust, stalled, crashed into the ground and was destroyed by the impact and fire, the report said. Video recordings on social media at the time showed the plane engulfed in flames and plumes of black smoke rising from the crash location. Emergency workers were shown trying to retrieve the bodies of victims. NYTIMES
SOURCE: THE STRAITS TIMES