On the morning of January 15, 2023 local time, a passenger plane of Nepal Snowman Airlines flying from the capital Kathmandu to the local tourist popular city of Pokhara suddenly crashed, crashing in the mountains between the old and new airports in Pokhara, with 68 passengers and 4 crew members on board, a total of 72 people. At least 44 of the victims' bodies have been recovered, and according to the latest information, three people have been rescued and are being taken to hospitals.
In the past 30 years, the country has been large and small, there have been 28 air accidents, basically once a year, why?
I went trekking to Nepal with the company for a week in 2019, and twice took a snowman air charter flight between Kathmandu and Pokhara, the process was difficult, but fortunately I returned safely. Today we delve into why Yeti Air, Nepal's largest airline, has so many accidents.
1. Nepal, as one of the poorest countries in the world, has poor infrastructure.
Nepal (English name: Nepal), a landlocked mountain country in South Asia, is located in the southern foothills of the Himalayas, bordering China in the north, and borders India on the other three sides, the capital Kathmandu, with a land area of about 147,000 square kilometers and a population of about 30 million (2020), divided into 7 federal provinces, with more than 130 ethnic groups in the country.
Poor: Nepal is an agricultural country with a backward economy and one of the least developed countries in the world. In fiscal year 2018/2019, Nepal's GDP was US$30.4 billion, and per capita GDP was US$1,049, equivalent to the mainland's 2005 level.
Relief map of Nepal
High: From the map, it is long from east to west, narrow from north to south, high in altitude, and separates from mainland Tibet on the north and south sides of the Himalayas. From the southernmost offshore level to nearly 8,000 meters in the north, the country occupies 8 of the world's 10 highest peaks, and is famous as a country of high mountains.
Famous for its alpine hiking, it is a must-visit for alpine hikers from all over the world.
Slow: think Nepal is a mountainous country, due to economic backwardness, there is no perfect railway network, domestic traffic is dominated by roads, its highways are equivalent to the mainland's 80-year national highway level, urban to rural roads are mostly dirt roads, the average speed is below 30 kilometers per hour, but also some self-driving tourist destinations that like challenges. Express transportation between cities is dominated by low-cost airlines.
Lagging behind: Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, with a population of 4 million, is the country's largest city, but the city has no traffic lights. The entire city, equivalent to the 80-year level of urban construction in the mainland, is mainly self-built houses within 5 floors.
The country's buses are equipped with two drivers, one to drive and one to lift the cobweb-like wires that cross the road.
Street view of Kathmandu, Nepal
2. Snowman Air, probably the smallest in the world, but the largest domestic airline in Nepal.
Founded in 1998 with two Canadian DHC-6 twin Otterliners, Yeti Air and its subsidiary Tara air operate Nepal's domestic routes and is Nepal's largest airline, with a domestic market share of more than 80% in 2008. Short-haul take-off and landing aircraft are its specialty, fully meeting the needs of Nepal's remote and mountainous areas. Become an important regional service airline.
In 2009, Yeti Air's partner Tara Air took advantage of its aircraft short-distance flights (mainly DHC6-300 and Dornier Do228) to occupy the short-haul market in Nepal, while Snowman Air occupied the Nepalese long-distance flight market with 7 jetstream-41 twin otter propeller aircraft, and joined hands with Tara Air to establish the largest commercial aviation operation network in Nepal. It is estimated that they are all purchased second-hand aircraft.
The plane that caused the accident should be one of its 7 aircraft, I have sat in two of them in 2019, this kind of plane has 4 seats per row, a total of 20 rows, the seat is a bit like the mainland 80 years of bus, the backrest is straight, it is not good to sit in, the cabin can not put luggage, all need to be checked in. It was noisy to fly, two propellers, with a roar.
Nepal airport plane
3. Pokhara region, Nepal, with an average altitude of 900 meters, beautiful scenery, located at the foot of the mountains, with a population of about 500,000, is Nepal, the second largest city, is the first tourist destination city in Nepal, the city of departure.
But the city's location at the foot of the Himalayas, the changing weather, also poses unpredictable risks for aircraft landings.
City of Pokhara
Pokhara Airport
4. Airport facilities are backward
Nepal's airport, Nepal's Kathmant airport terminal as shown below, airport security check basically by naked eye and touch, and open box inspection, rare in other parts of the world.
Kathmant International Airport terminal
In general, Nepal's airport facilities are backward, Yeti air aircraft are old, the local climate is changeable, the altitude is high and the management is backward, all of which are the reasons for the high number of flight safety accidents.
It is recommended that friends who travel to Nepal spend more time and choose to travel in good weather, and try not to choose to take small planes when the weather is bad.
Friends who are planning to travel to Nepal, please pay more attention to the local weather conditions.