Sita Air Dornier 228-202 plane crash
Kathmandu, Nepal
Updated on
The Dornier Do-228 operated by Sita Air took off from Kathmandu, Nepal, for a domestic flight to Lukla, Nepal. 16 passengers (mainly tourists) and 3 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff. All the 19 people aboard died.
The twin-propeller was in the initial climb out of Kathmandu’s aiport when the crew reported a bird strike and the failure of an engine. The crew attempted to return to the airport, but the plane was loosing altitude and was not able to come back to the runway. The crew decided to perform an emergency landing at the bank of Manohara River in Koteshwor village, just outside the airport perimeter. 2 minutes after departure, the plane crashed on the bank of the Manohara river, and burst into flames. The fire has completely destroyed the aircraft, and let no chance to the people onboard.
Ground witnesses reported the aircraft appeared to attempt a landing at the river bank. The aircraft was not on fire at that time until after coming to a stand still. Emergency services needed 40 minutes to extinguish the fire.
Investigations showed that the bird collided with the right hand engine at about 50 feet (15 meters) above ground causing some part to separate from the engine, the part impacted the vertical tail and disabled the rudder. This made the aircraft uncontrollable. Tower noticed the aircraft began a tight turn at that point.
Sita Air is currently on the blacklist of airlines banned from flying in the European Union.
