Accident of Turkish plane due to wrong information by air traffic control

 

KEDAR DAHAL
KATHMANDU, March 4
An Airbus A330 of Turkish Airlines had an accident Wednesday morning with the Air Traffic Control at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) not giving correct information.
Officials have made preliminary estimation that the main reason for the accident was the instruction to force-land the plane instead of diverting it even when visibility was less than 1,000 meters at around seven in the morning. “The plane should have been diverted to the nearest airport but was not. The accident seems to have occurred due to that,” a TIA source told Kaorbar. The plane over-shot the runway after being asked to force-land despite regular visibility of less than 1,000 meters. There was no loss of human life in the accident.
“We got the plane to force-land at the visibility of 1,000 meters but it may have been lower due to technical glitches,” Director General (DG) at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Ratish Chandra Lal Suman said. The TIA has been found to have given permission stating that visibility is higher than 1,000 meters. “There may have been technical glitches,” Suman quipped when asked why the plane was asked to land instead of advising it to divert to another airport nearby.
The plane has a system that allows it to land even at low visibility of 1,100 meters. TIA sources claimed that the plane was asked to land by falsely saying that visibility was 1,000 meters even when it was lower. “The plane had come much lower in the first attempt. The southern part of the airport was clearly visible. But the plane suddenly ascended and flew for around 45 minutes in the sky, and another attempt to land was made,” Dikesh Malhotra, a passenger, said. “We saw dense fog below while landing, Visibility seemed almost zero,” he added.
He revealed that the plane made seven rounds of Kathmandu Valley after climbing. TIA officials, on the other hand, argue that the plane should not have been landed after finding low visibility and should have overshot instead, and accuse pilot negligence. “The pilot can also judge visibility and should have taken a rational decision,” a TIA official stated.
The TK726 had 223 passengers including a newborn, and 11 crew members. Just one of the passengers has received minor injury in the accident. The plane arriving from Istanbul, Turkey was scheduled to land in Kathmandu at 6:55 after a flight of around six hours.
Aircraft removal kit to be brought from Mumbai
Aircraft removal kit will be flown in from Mumbai in an Indian Air Force Plane Thursday morning to tow the plane stuck in the grassland between the runway and taxiway. The Indian plane will arrive at eight in the morning. DG Suman said flights will resume only after the stuck plane is towed with the kit. The TIA has already cancelled all international flights until four Thursday afternoon.
Probe committee formed
The government has formed a four-member probe committee under former secretary Nagendra Prasad Adhiakri to investigate about the accident. The committee includes senior pilot BM Amatya, Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) engineer Chudamani Basyal, and Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane. The Turkish Airlines will also conduct technical probe.
25,000 passengers affected
Over 25,000 passengers will be affected including those scheduled to fly on Thursday due to closure of the TIA owing to the accident. A total of 35 flights take off from the TIA daily while an equal number of flights land. A total of 12,000 passengers use the TIA daily. A total of 150domestic flights take off and an equal number land at the TIA a day catering to around 4,000 passengers. Domestic flights, however, have resumed from Wednesday afternoon. The airline companies have accommodated the stranded passengers at different hotels in Kathmandu Valley.