Bird Strike to be cause of Nepal Plane Crash in 2012 which killed 3 British : Reports

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Kathmandu : A plane crash that killed seven Britons heading to Mount Everest remains a mystery after the engine maker said it was “unlikely” a bird strike was the cause. The twin-engine propeller plane crashed shortly after take-off near Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, last September. Raymond Eagle, 58, from Macclesfield, Cheshire; Timothy Oakes, 57, from Warrington, and his friend Stephen Holding, 60, from Stoke-on-Trent; Vincent Kelly, 50, from Bolton, and his brother Darren, 45, from, Galloway; Christopher Davey, 51, from Moulton in Northamptonshire; and lawyer Benjamin Ogden, 27, from London all died along with 12 other passengers. An investigation found the plane lost power and slowed down at a crucial point during take-off but investigators were unable to find why. It meant the plane was not high enough to recover when it went off course. 

The report also said that while preparing for take-off, the pilot twice noticed a bird and as the plane accelerated, he said ‘watch out for the bird’. The first officer reported being clear of it as he accelerated but the crew later reported a bird strike, but no evidence of it was found in the engine. Investigators said: “It is possible that the bird momentarily disturbed the air flow into the engine before it was struck by the propeller, causing a surge and the suspected flame seen in the CCTV footage, but the engine manufacturer considered this unlikely.” As the plane turned, it lost power hit the ground just 400 yards from the runway. The report says one engine failed and the other suffered a power loss. 

The tragedy had been blamed simply on the plane striking a bird of prey at a height of 50ft as it took off from Tribhuvan Airport in the Nepalese capital heading for Lukla near Everest. But experts doubted whether that alone would have prevented the pilot from bringing the Sita Air Dornier D-228 back around for an emergency landing. Indian government aviation minister Suresh Acharya said that the combined weight of passengers and luggage carried by the plane would play a key part in the inquiry, which British investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch assisted with. Mr Acharya said: “The bird strike may not be the sole reason behind the crash.” And Kuma Sherchan, an experienced pilot with the Nepal Airlines Corporation said: “A bird hitting the plane should not be considered in isolation during the investigation. "Several factors, such as technical maintenance, load, pressure on airline operators and many more, lead to an air crash.”