Agni Air Flight 101 - Misplaced Pages

2010 aviation accident

Agni Air Flight 101
Accident
The aircraft involved, 9N-AHE, four months prior to the accident, the aircraft next to it crashed 4 months after Flight 101 crashed.
Date	24 August 2010 (2010-08-24)
Summary	Crashed following electrical failure and spatial disorientation
Site	near Shikharpur, Nepal 27°23′24″N 85°18′00″E / 27.39000°N 85.30000°E / 27.39000; 85.30000
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Dornier 228-101
Operator	Agni Air
IATA flight No.	AG101
Registration	9N-AHE
Flight origin	Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal
Destination	Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Lukla, Nepal
Occupants	14
Passengers	11
Crew	3
Fatalities	14
Survivors	0

Agni Air Flight 101 was a regional flight between Kathmandu and Lukla, Nepal, that crashed on 24 August 2010, killing all 14 people on board. Twenty minutes after take-off, the flight crew had reported a technical problem. Contact with the aircraft was lost shortly after. The aircraft crashed 50 miles (80 km) south of Kathmandu.

The investigation into the accident found that pilot fell victim to spatial disorientation following the loss of flight instruments after both generators failed. Backup battery power was exhausted prematurely due to the crew using an outdated checklist.

History of the flight

Flight 101 was traveling on a flight between Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, Nepal. Twenty minutes after take-off, the crew of the aircraft contacted air traffic control reporting technical problems and requesting a return to Kathmandu.

Controllers then diverted the aircraft to Simara Airport in Pipara Simara, Nepal, due to poor weather conditions at Kathmandu. Aviation officials said although the flight crew reported technical problems, they did not declare an emergency or request priority clearance to land.

Five minutes after reporting technical problems, radar and radio contact with the aircraft was lost. The aircraft crashed in the town of Shikharpur, Narayani, around 50 miles (80 km) south of Kathmandu. Witnesses reported there was no noise from the engines prior to the crash. The force of the crash spread wreckage in an area with a diameter of around 330 feet (100 m); and the aircraft created a crater 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep upon crashing.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a twin turboprop Dornier 228 bearing Nepalese registration 9N-AHE. It was built by Dornier Flugzeugwerke in 1984 and was operated by Skyline Airways before being purchased by Agni Air in 2006.

Casualties

All on board died in the crash; they included eight Nepalese citizens, as well as six foreigners. Of the foreigners, four were American women, one was a Briton, and one was Japanese.

Nationality	Fatalities		Total
Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Nepal	5	3	8
United States	4	0	4
Japan	1	0	1
United Kingdom	1	0	1
Total	11	3	14

Aftermath

Rescue operations were immediately undertaken after it became clear that the plane had crashed, although efforts were hampered by the fact that the crash site was around two hours away from the closest location of police forces. Heavy rains in the area also led to the risk of flooding and landslides. Personnel from the Nepalese Army reached the site of the crash on foot, and were responsible for gathering bodies, but due to weather conditions, helicopters were forced to land more than a mile away. Authorities announced a reward of Rs. 50,000 for anyone who would find equipment that would help authorities discover the cause of the crash. By 2 September, both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder of the crashed aircraft had been located; both were undamaged and were analysed by investigators in India.

Investigation

The government of Nepal formed a five-member panel to help determine the cause of the crash; the committee was instructed to submit a report on the crash within 65 days.

Despite initial reports that technical issues had resulted in the accident, the cause was found to be spatial disorientation of the pilot following the loss of the attitude indicator. Flying in poor weather, that is in instrument meteorological conditions, the flight crew would have had to rely only on their instruments. The failure of the attitude indicator was caused by the failure of both generators and the crew using an outdated checklist. The battery was therefore drained of power in less than half the normal discharge time.

References

"Rescue operations ongoing at Agni Air Dornier 228 crash site". Flightglobal.com. 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on 27 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
^ "14, include 6 foreigners killed in air crash". Hindustan Times. 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on 24 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
^ "Crash: Agni D228 at Bastipur on Aug 24th 2010, technical problems". The Aviation Herald. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
^ "4 Americans among 14 killed in plane crash in Nepal". Los Angeles Times. 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
"REGISTRATION DETAILS FOR 9N-AHE (AGNI AIR) DORNIER 228-101". Planelogger. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
"9N-AHE". rzjets. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
^ "Six foreigners among 14 killed in Agni Air crash". The Himalayan. 25 August 2010. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
"Everest plane crash: Briton among the dead". Daily Mirror. 24 August 2010.
^ "'Black box' found from Agni Air crash site Archived 4 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine." The Himalayan Times. 31 August 2010. Retrieved on 17 September 2010.
"Searchers recover recorders from crashed Agni Air Dornier 228". Flightglobal.com. 2 September 2010. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
Shrestha, Dambar Krishna. "Hotel Echo's last minutes." Nepali Times. Issue No. 518, 3–9 September 2010. Retrieved on 17 September 2010.
Hradecky, Simon (22 November 2010). "Crash: Agni D228 at Bastipur on Aug 24th 2010, dual generator failure". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 24 November 2010.

External links

External images
Photos of 9N-AHE at Airliners.net
Photos of 9N-AHE at JetPhotos.net
Photo of 9N-AHE cockpit at Flickr

"Accident report on Aviation Safety". Aviation-Safety.net. Archived from the original on 30 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Nepal
1970s	1973 Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 hijacking (June 1973)
1990s	Thai Airways International Flight 311 (July 1992) Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268 (September 1992) Everest Air Dornier 228 crash (July 1993) Hinduja Cargo Services Flight 8533 (July 1999) Necon Air Flight 128 (September 1999) Indian Airlines Flight 814 (December 1999)
2000s	Royal Nepal Airlines crash (July 2000) Shangri-La Air Twin Otter Crash (August 2002) Yeti Airlines crash (June 2006) Shree Air Mil Mi-8 crash (September 2006) Yeti Airlines Flight 101 (October 2008)
2010s	Agni Air Flight 101 (August 2010) Tara Air Twin Otter crash (December 2010) Buddha Air Flight 103 (September 2011) Agni Air Dornier 228 crash (May 2012) Sita Air Flight 601 (September 2012) Nepal Airlines Flight 555 (May 2013) Nepal Airlines Flight 183 (February 2014) Charikot helicopter crash (May 2015) Tara Air Flight 193 (24 February 2016) Air Kasthamandap PAC 750XL crash (26 February 2016) Summit Air Flight 409 (May 2017) US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 (March 2018) Taplejung helicopter crash (February 2019)
2020s	Tara Air Flight 197 (May 2022) Yeti Airlines Flight 691 (January 2023) Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 crash (July 2024)

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 2010 (2010)
Jan 2 Danube Wings Flight 8230Jan 24 Taban Air Flight 6437Jan 25 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409Feb 18 Austin suicide attackMar 22 Aviastar-TU Flight 1906Apr 7 United Airlines Flight 663Apr 10 Smolensk air disasterApr 13 Cathay Pacific Flight 780Apr 13 Merpati Nusantara Flight 836Apr 13 AeroUnion Flight 302May 12 Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771May 17 Pamir Airways Flight 112May 22 Air India Express Flight 812Jun 19 Air Service Berlin Douglas C-47Jun 20 Aéro-Service C-212 crashJul 26 Israeli Air Force CH-53 crashJul 27 Lufthansa Cargo Flight 8460Jul 28 Airblue Flight 202Jul 28 Alaska USAF C-17 crashJul 31 Conair CV-580 crashAug 3 Katekavia Flight 9357Aug 9 Alaskan DHC-3 Turbo OtterAug 16 AIRES Flight 8250Aug 24 Agni Air Flight 101Aug 24 Henan Airlines Flight 8387Aug 25 Filair Let L-410 crashSep 3 UPS Airlines Flight 6Sep 4 Fox Glacier FU-24 crashSep 7 Alrosa Flight 514Sep 13 Conviasa Flight 2350Oct 6 Tajik National Guard Mil Mi-8Oct 12 Transafrik International Flight 662Oct 29 Transatlantic aircraft bomb plotNov 4 Qantas Flight 32Nov 4 Aero Caribbean Flight 883Nov 5 JS Air Flight 201Nov 11 Tarco Air An-24 crashNov 28 Sun Way Flight 4412Dec 4 Dagestan Airlines Flight 372Dec 15 Tara Air Twin Otter crash
2009 ◄ ► 2011

Aviation accidents and incidents in 2010 (2010)

Jan 2 Danube Wings Flight 8230Jan 24 Taban Air Flight 6437Jan 25 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409Feb 18 Austin suicide attackMar 22 Aviastar-TU Flight 1906Apr 7 United Airlines Flight 663Apr 10 Smolensk air disasterApr 13 Cathay Pacific Flight 780Apr 13 Merpati Nusantara Flight 836Apr 13 AeroUnion Flight 302May 12 Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771May 17 Pamir Airways Flight 112May 22 Air India Express Flight 812Jun 19 Air Service Berlin Douglas C-47Jun 20 Aéro-Service C-212 crashJul 26 Israeli Air Force CH-53 crashJul 27 Lufthansa Cargo Flight 8460Jul 28 Airblue Flight 202Jul 28 Alaska USAF C-17 crashJul 31 Conair CV-580 crashAug 3 Katekavia Flight 9357Aug 9 Alaskan DHC-3 Turbo OtterAug 16 AIRES Flight 8250Aug 24 Agni Air Flight 101Aug 24 Henan Airlines Flight 8387Aug 25 Filair Let L-410 crashSep 3 UPS Airlines Flight 6Sep 4 Fox Glacier FU-24 crashSep 7 Alrosa Flight 514Sep 13 Conviasa Flight 2350Oct 6 Tajik National Guard Mil Mi-8Oct 12 Transafrik International Flight 662Oct 29 Transatlantic aircraft bomb plotNov 4 Qantas Flight 32Nov 4 Aero Caribbean Flight 883Nov 5 JS Air Flight 201Nov 11 Tarco Air An-24 crashNov 28 Sun Way Flight 4412Dec 4 Dagestan Airlines Flight 372Dec 15 Tara Air Twin Otter crash

2009 ◄ ► 2011

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