| Agni Air Flight CHT | |
| Image Upright: | 1.1 |
| Occurrence Type: | Accident |
| Summary: | Crashed on a hill due to mechanical failure and Pilot error |
| Site: | Near Jomsom Airport, Nepal |
| Aircraft Type: | Dornier 228-212 |
| Operator: | Agni Air |
| Tail Number: | 9N-AIG |
| Origin: | Pokhara Airport, Pokhara, Nepal |
| Destination: | Jomsom Airport, Jomsom, Nepal |
| Occupants: | 21 |
| Passengers: | 18 |
| Crew: | 3 |
| Fatalities: | 15 |
| Injuries: | 6 |
| Survivors: | 6 |
| Iata: | AG-CHT |
On 14 May 2012, a Dornier 228 passenger aircraft of Agni Air operating Flight CHT, crashed near Jomsom Airport, Nepal, killing 15 of the 21 people on board, including both pilots and Indian child actress Taruni Sachdev and her mother.[1] [2] [3]
The aircraft was flying from Pokhara Airport to Jomsom Airport on an unscheduled flight CHT. There were eighteen passengers, two pilots and a flight attendant on board. At 09:30 local time (03:45 UTC), Flight CHT attempted to land at Jomson, but the first attempt was aborted by the pilots. During the subsequent go-around, one of the aircraft's wings impacted a hill, causing the aircraft to crash, killing 15 out of the 21 people on board.
Pokhara Airport officials stated that the crew had reported a technical problem on approach to Jomsom, went around and requested to return to Pokhara. The aircraft turned back inside Jomsom Valley but hit the side of a hill.
Air Traffic Control at Jomsom reported the captain reported an indication suggesting the wheels might lock up during landing and advised they wanted to return to Pokhara. Over the runway, the aircraft made a sharp U-turn not following standard procedures, contacted a hill and crashed within 60 seconds after the captain reported the indication. The ATC official added the accident could have been averted had the aircraft landed at Jomsom despite the malfunction or had the aircraft turned right after overflying the runway.[4]
The aircraft involved was a Dornier 228-212 registered as 9N-AIG. It was built by Dornier Flugzeugwerke in 1997 and was operated by Hornbill Skyways before being purchased by Agni Air in 2008.[5] [6]
The victims were two Nepali crew members and 13 passengers, including Indian child actress Taruni Sachdev and her mother.[7] Six other passengers survived with injuries.
| Nationality | Fatalities | Survivors | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passengers | Crew | Passengers | Crew | |||
| Nepal | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| India | 13 | – | 3 | – | 16 | |
| Denmark | 0 | – | 2 | – | 2 | |
Accident investigators reported, while submitting their report to Nepal's Ministry of Transport, that the aircraft was on approach to Jomsom's runway 06 when the crew selected the gear down and received a fault indication. After attempts to resolve the indication were unsuccessful the crew requested to land on runway 24 but continued the approach to runway 06. Close to ground, at about 9,200 feet MSL and just after crossing the threshold of runway 06, the commander at the spur of the moment decided to divert to Pokhara and initiated a sharp left turn at 73 KIAS without considering the turn radii and the rising terrain, which resulted in a continuous stall warning during the remaining 12 seconds of flight. The left hand wing of the aircraft struck a rock and the aircraft disintegrated. The captain had accumulated 5,776 hours total but only 596 hours on type, the first officer had weakly expressed his concern about the turn radius of the aircraft. The panel stated the commander was a senior flight instructor employed by Civil Aviation Authority Nepal.