Yeti Airlines ATR 72-500 plane crash
Pokhara, Nepal
Updated on
The ATR 72 operated by Yeti Airlines took off from Kathmandu, Nepal, for a passenger flight to Pokhara, Nepal. 68 passengers and 4 crewmembers were onboard. The plane was on final approach to Pokhara's International Airport's when the aircraft stalled. The ATR72 crashed 1,1 NM (2 km) ahead of the runway threshold. All the 72 people onboard were killed.
The weather conditions were excellent, with a clear sky, low wind, and very good visibility. While on final approach, the twin-engine ATR72 entered a pitch up attitude then the aircraft stalled. This resulted in a left roll up to approximatively 90°. The aircraft altitude was too low recover a stall. The plane crashed in the gorges of the Seti river, between the old airport and the new airport and burst into flames. The airplane was totally destroyed. Both flight data and cockpit voice recorders were recovered two days after the accident. The Flight Data Recorder analysis indicates that both propellers went into the feather position, thus leading to a total loss of traction resulting in the loss of speed.
While on approach, the crew disengaged the autopilot at about 720ft. The landing-gear was deployed, and the flaps set at the 15° position. The flying pilot (a captain undergoing familiarization with an instructor) called for a further flap extension from 15° to 30°. Though the instructor replied, “Flaps 30”, the flight-data recorder did not record any movement of the flap surface. At that moment, the propellers of both engines simultaneously lost rotation speed, the level falling below 25%, and the torque started declining to zero. The feather setting for the ATR 72 is on a lever, which is situated immediately to the left of the flap lever. When feathered, the propellers do not produce any traction. The pilot mentioned that the engines were not producing power 35 seconds later, when the landing clearance were given. The throttle levers were advanced to the maximum, but the engines did not produce any thrust. The plane stalled and crashed.
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The ATR72 is a widely used twin-engine turboprop plane manufactured by ATR, a joint venture of Airbus and Italy's Leonardo. Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 planes. The ATR72 that crashed was was 15 years old.
Yeti Airlines is currently on the blacklist of airlines banned from flying in the European Union.
