Yeti Airlines crash: An engine may have stopped, Pilot Roshan Sapkota says
Kamal KC (Left), Roshan Sapkota (Right)
Ramesh Sapkota
Kathmandu, 15 January (2023) - A highly experienced pilot had been flying Yeti Airlines 9N ANC ATR 72 plane that crashed in Pokhara on Sunday.
Pilot Kamal KC had 25 years of flying experience. Co-pilot Anju Khatiwada was also a seasoned flier.
Roshan Sapkota had been in many flights with Senior Pilot Kamal KC. He told Lokantar about the possible reasons behind the crash in Pokhara:
Kamal KC had been flying planes for the last 25 years. He has an experience of flying aircrafts for more than 20,000 hours.
Co-pilot Anju Khatiwada is also an experienced operator. We were in the same training class.
Pilot KC was the one who guided me for the first 100 hours of flying aircraft. I have flown different planes with him to Pokhara, Biratnagar, Chandragadhi, Nepalgunj and other destinations.
I never saw Pilot KC taking any risks. He was highly experienced.
Any plane taking off from Kathmandu to Pokhara International Airport needs to land at direction 1 2. There is also an option of another direction: 3 0. A pilot can try to land the plane from a viable direction after confirming it with the tower.
The crashed plane seems to have tried to land through direction 1 2. Crash occurred in the process.
The captain would have definitely contacted the tower had the plane experienced technical glitches. But it seems to have crashed right at the moment of landing.
A pilot gets time to take decision when the aircraft is in high altitude. But the plane in Pokhara seems to have been descending before taking a turn.
The plane must have faced difficulty while taking a sharp turn in low altitude. I think that one of the engines may have stopped functioning and the pilot may have tried to turn the plane immediately towards Pokhara airport.
I don't think that the plane was deliberately crashed at Seti gorge to save the settlement below. It would have crashed while trying to reach the airport. It may have encountered any other technical glitches as well.
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