| Date: | 7 July 1999 |
| Summary: | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error and ATC error |
| Site: | Champadevi Hills, near Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Aircraft Type: | Boeing 727-243F |
| Operator: | Hinduja Cargo Services on behalf of Lufthansa Cargo |
| Tail Number: | VT-LCI |
| Origin: | Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Destination: | Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, India |
| Passengers: | 0 |
| Crew: | 5 |
| Fatalities: | 5 |
| Survivors: | 0 |
Hinduja Cargo Services Flight 8533[1] was a scheduled cargo flight from Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal to Indira Gandhi International Airport in India operated by Lufthansa Cargo's Indian subsidiary Hinduja Cargo Services. On 7 July 1999, the Boeing 727 operating the flight crashed into Champadevi Hills at 2200m (7,200feet) altitude with no survivors amongst the 5 occupants on board.[2] [3] [4]
The aircraft was a 17 year old Boeing 727-200 Freighter plane. It was delivered previously to Alitalia in 1981 as I-DIRS with Continental Airlines too operating the airframe as N586PE and N14416 before delivery to Hinduja Cargo Services as VT-LCI.[5] There were 5 crew members on board, namely Gonjalez, Shahni, Vargava, Singh and Roy.
The flight was carrying 21 tons of cargo, mostly textiles and carpets.[6] The flight departed Runway 20 at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport. After take-off the flight made a 10-degree bank to the right for heading of 247 at 4.4DME. The power applied on the engines was inadvertently reduced so the aircraft lost height in area where altitude of any departing flight must be above 9500feet while VT-LCI was at 7500feet.[7] The Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) activated and sounded an alarm in the cockpit for 11 seconds. The speed was reduced to 171kn causing the stick shaker to activate. VT-LCI impacted Champadevi Hills at 7:51 p.m. local time with no survivors.[8] [9]