serious images of Wreckage of Tara Air de Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft Nepal has once again highlighted the complexities of ensuring aviation safety in one of the world’s most challenging environments, and in regulating the mountainous nation’s short take-off and landing (STOL) flights that are a tourist draw. The plane with 22 passengers, including an Indian family, was on an ‘air trek’ on Sunday with the scenic but airborne journey of the Pokhara to Jomsom route. It reached about 13,000 ft. lost contact on radar, STOL operations call for well-honed piloting skills, and danger lurks around every corner in the form of jagged peaks, narrow passes, and unstable weather, in the form of 3-D terrain maps of the flight path. The small unpressurized craft used in this area operates at a ceiling of 13,000 feet and is airborne for short durations – oxygen supply is required for all passengers if flights exceed 13,000 feet for more than 30 minutes. lasts for time. The flights are characterized by a 90 degree turn maneuver. Valleys that sometimes have clearance only the length of the wings. And as in any competitive tourism market crowded with various STOL operators, there are many pressures that can be put on the crew: commercial stress points such as not wasting fuel moments and the envelope of critical visual flight regulations (VFR). Ensuring passenger satisfaction by pushing , Non-compliance of VFR has been reported to be the main cause of accidents in STOL operations in Nepal.
So, is Nepal pushing the limits in air security? Data put out by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal shows that domestic air travel has increased by 15.45% in 2018, although it has registered a decline in 2019-20 due to travel restrictions following the global COVID-19 pandemic. But, interestingly, the country’s figures in the last 10 years have shown a sharp decline in the accident rate in general, with the only setback being an increase in helicopter incidents with increasing copter operations in logistics, relief and rescue and tourism. Over the same time frame, the STOL area has seen a higher rate of accidents than trunk route air operations; Of the 19 crashes, 16 were STOL aircraft. Accident analysis showed controlled flight over terrain, runway excursions and loss of control in flight as major causes. A more realistic check lies in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program, which monitors safety inspection obligations by all 193 member-states (as of June 2020), scores of which Nepal – it last participated in the program in 2017 Was – dropped in ‘Organization’ and ‘Accident Investigation’. In an era of improving global air safety, Nepal needs a crucial summit by working on pending legislation that splits its civil aviation body into a regulator and a service provider, paving the way for a complete safety system, and in turn enables secure STOL operations.