By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Nov. 30: Fatalities related to helicopter accidents have gone up over the last 10 years in the country, according to the Aviation Safety Report 2020. This increase in fatalities corresponds with a slight rise in the number of helicopter accidents and a considerable rise in the number of helicopter operations.
The report, released by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on Friday, shows that seven people died in two helicopter crashes in 2019. This is up from 2010 when there was only one helicopter crash and only two deaths.
“Growth in tourism has led to an increase in helicopter operations for logistic, rescue and relief purposes,” the report states. “But, considering factors like geography and weather, such operations have to deal with higher risks. Thus, helicopter crashes remain a challenge for Nepal.”
In the same period, the number of people killed in aeroplane accidents has gone down significantly. In 2010, there were 36 fatalities in two accidents. In 2019, that number dropped to three fatalities in one accident.
However, when breaking the statistics down, we see that aircraft in the Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) sector have a worse safety record than those in the trunk sector. Out of the 20 accidents that occurred during the documented period, 17 were STOL aircraft.
The report points out controlled flight into terrain, loss of control in-flight, and runway excursions as the top three causes of aeroplane crashes. Other elements posing dangers to aircraft in the Nepali sky are bird strikes, loss of separation, system componence failure and navigational aid malfunction.
Nevertheless, going by the CAAN report, there have been improvements. Nepal Aviation Safety Plan 2018-2022 has been drafted in line with the Global Aviation Safety Plan. The second phase of SMS audits was conducted in 2019 where the airlines were found complying with the rules of voluntary information reporting. Nepal obtained an effective implementation score of 66.76 per cent in its last Universal Safety Oversight Audit (USOAP) which is above the threshold of 60 per cent set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Nepal has also improved its oversight capability since the audit of 2009.