2008 aviation accident Yeti Airlines Flight 103 9N-AFE at Lukla in 2007 Accident Date| 8 October 2008 Summary| Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error and inclement weather Site| Lukla Airport, Nepal 27°41′13″N 086°43′47″E / 27.68694°N 86.72972°E / 27.68694; 86.72972Coordinates: 27°41′13″N 086°43′47″E / 27.68694°N 86.72972°E / 27.68694; 86.72972 Aircraft Aircraft type| De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Operator| Yeti Airlines Registration| 9N-AFE Flight origin| Kathmandu Airport, Nepal Destination| Lukla Airport, Nepal Occupants| 19 Passengers| 16 Crew| 3 Fatalities| 18 Injuries| 1 Survivors| 1 Yeti Airlines Flight 103 was a domestic flight in Nepal, that crashed on final approach to Tenzing-Hillary Airport in the town of Lukla in eastern Nepal on 8 October 2008. The De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 300 registered as 9N-AFE originated from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.[1][2] ## Contents * 1 Aircraft * 2 Crew and Passengers * 3 Crash * 4 Investigation * 5 Aftermath * 6 References * 7 External links ## Aircraft[edit] The aircraft involved in the crash was a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Yeti Airlines. Its maiden flight was in 1980 with Bristow Helicopters. The aircraft entered into service in Nepal in 1997, when Lumbini Airways acquired the plane. In 1998, Yeti Airlines bought the plane. In 2006, it already met with a minor incident, when the aircraft collided with a fence upon landing in Bajura Airport. It was involved in another incident, when the aircraft veered off the runway at Surkhet Airport in 2007.[3] ## Crew and Passengers[edit] Fourteen of the dead were reported to be tourists. Twelve of the passengers on the flight were German and two Australian. The only survivor was Surendra Kunwar, the captain of the aircraft, who was dragged free from the wreckage shortly after the crash and was flown to Kathmandu for emergency treatment.[1][4][5] Nationality | Fatalities | Survivors | Total | | | Passengers | Crew | Passengers | Crew Nepal | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | 4 Germany | 12 | – | 0 | – | 12 Australia | 2 | – | 0 | – | 2 The pilot, being the only survivor, suffered psychological problems in the aftermath and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.[6] ## Crash[edit] The airport is the main access to the Mount Everest region in Nepal, and is a notoriously difficult landing, with only 1,500 feet (460 m) of steeply sloped runway just 65 feet (20 m) wide and a steep approach path.[7] Due to bad weather conditions and heavy fog, the pilot lost visual contact, nevertheless attempted a visual approach, as there are no Instrument landing systems installed at Lukla. The aircraft came in too low and too far left, which caused the aircraft to crash short of the runway, as the landing gear got caught in a perimeter fence on airport grounds.[8] ## Investigation[edit] A commission was formed to investigate the accident, the final report being published two months later. However, the report only came to wider attention when The Aviation Herald retrieved a copy of it in 2017. The report blamed the crash on the flight crew's misinterpretation of how fast the weather would deteriorate and their expectation of a cloud patch on final approach, which had been reported by previous flights landing in Lukla. Contributing factors included the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and Yeti Airlines both having a poor oversight of pilots deviating from standard operation procedures, the failure of the Automatic Flight Information Service personnel to close the airport as a result of a high work load and stress, and Yeti Airlines going as far as to prioritize economics over safety, leading to improper crew training.[9] ## Aftermath[edit] Yeti Airlines Flight 103 Memorial The safety regulations at Lukla airport were enhanced and landings in bad weather restricted. A plaque was put up near the crash site and the local people celebrate the victims' memory every year on 8 October.[6] ## References[edit] 1. ^ a b Wildermuth, Urs (8 October 2008). "Crash: Yeti Airlines DHC6 at Lukla, on Oct 8th 2008, crashed on runway". avherald.com. The Aviation Herald. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. 2. ^ "Tourists die in Nepal air crasht". BBC. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018. 3. ^ "9N-AFE". Twin Otter Archive. Retrieved 1 October 2018. 4. ^ Bloomberg: Nepal Plane Crash Kills 18; Most Were German Tourists 8 October 2008 5. ^ Matt Johnston, David Hastie "Everest plane crash claims Australian couple" Archived 11 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine Herald Sun 9 October 2008 6. ^ a b "Tod von zwölf Deutschen: Der Horror-Crash von Lukla" [Death of twelve Germans: The Lukla horror crash] (in German). Leipziger Volkszeitung. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018. 7. ^ "Everest plane crash kills 18 tourists in Nepal" Archived 11 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Agence France-Presse 8 October 2008 8. ^ "Plane Crash Near Everest Kills 18". New York Times. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018. 9. ^ "AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REPORT, YETI AIRLINES DOMESTIC PVT. LTD., DHC-300 (TWIN OTTER) 9N-AFE, AT TENZING-HILLARY AIRPORT, LUKLA, ON 8TH OCTOBER, 2008" (PDF). Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2022 - via The Aviation Herald. ## External links[edit] * Media related to Yeti Airlines Flight 103 at Wikimedia Commons * Video of the crash taken from the airport on YouTube * v * t * e Aviation accidents and incidents in Nepal 1970s| * Nepal plane hijack (June 1973) 1990s| * Thai Airways International Flight 311 (July 1992) * Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268 (September 1992) * Everest Air Dornier 228 crash (July 1993) * Lufthansa Cargo Flight 8533 (July 1999) * Necon Air Flight 128 (September 1999) * Indian Airlines flight 814 hijacking (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 103 (October 2008) 2010s| * Agni Air Flight 101 (August 2010) * Tara Air crash (December 2010) * Buddha Air Flight 103 (September 2011) * Agni Air crash (May 2012) * Sita Air Flight 601 (September 2012) * Nepal Airlines Flight 555 (May 2013) * Nepal Airlines Flight 183 (February 2014) * 2015 Charikot Helicopter Crash (May 2015) * Tara Air Flight 193 (February 2016) * Air Kasthamandap PAC 750XL crash (February 2016) * Summit Air Flight 409 (May 2017) * US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 (March 2018) * 2019 Taplejung helicopter crash (February 2019) 2020s| * Tara Air Flight 197 (May 2022) * v * t * e Aviation accidents and incidents in 2008 (2008) * Jan 4 Transaven Turbolet crash * Jan 12 Macedonian Armed Forces Mi-17 crash * Jan 17 British Airways Flight 38 * Jan 23 Mirosławiec disaster * Feb 8 Air New Zealand Flight 2279 * Feb 14 Belavia Flight 1834 * Feb 21 Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 * Feb 23 Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accident * Mar 30 Biggin Hill Cessna Citation crash * Apr 3 Suriname plane crash * Apr 11 Kata Air Transport Flight 007 * Apr 15 Hewa Bora Airways Flight 122 * May 25 Kalitta Air Flight 207 * May 26 Moskovia Airlines Flight 9675 * May 30 TACA Flight 390 * Jun 10 Sudan Airways Flight 109 * Jul 7 Centurion Air Cargo Flight 164 * Jul 21 Guam B-52 crash * Jul 25 Qantas Flight 30 * Jul 31 East Coast Jets Flight 81 * Aug 20 Spanair Flight 5022 * Aug 24 Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895 * Aug 24 Aéreo Ruta Maya crash * Aug 28 Sriwijaya Air Flight 062 * Aug 30 Conviasa Boeing 737 crash * Sep 14 Aeroflot Flight 821 * Sep 19 South Carolina Learjet 60 crash * Oct 7 Qantas Flight 72 * Oct 8 Yeti Airlines Flight 103 * Nov 4 Mexico City crash * Nov 10 Ryanair Flight 4102 * Nov 27 XL Airways Germany Flight 888T * Dec 8 San Diego F/A-18 crash * Dec 20 Continental Airlines Flight 1404 2007 ◀ ▶ 2009 *[v]: View this template *[t]: Discuss this template *[e]: Edit this template