US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211
A commission appointed by the government of Nepal investigated the accident and issued a report that concluded that the probable cause of the crash was pilot disorientation and a loss of situational awareness on the part of the flight crew.The report was criticized by the airline and by the Bangladeshi representative to the commission, who felt that the air traffic controllers at Tribhuvan International Airport did not do their job properly and could have prevented the accident.[2] At 08:10 UTC, the first officer contacted Kathmandu Approach, who told the flight to descend to 13,500 feet (4,100 m) and enter a holding pattern at a specified navigational waypoint.[3] Since they were slightly ahead of schedule, the pilots expected the delay to last several minutes, so they discussed the navigational elements of the holding pattern, and configured the flight management system in preparation.[1]: 25–26 With their attention focused on trying to adjust to the correct altitude, and distracted by the audible warnings, the crew failed to notice that the plane was still off course, and had by this time flown to the right of the desired approach path, descending at rates as high as 1,700 feet per minute (520 m/min).Seeing high terrain ahead of them, the pilot performed a sharp right-hand turn, during which the aircraft descended to as low as 175 ft (53 m) above the ground, and reached bank angles of up to 35 to 40°.[1]: 27 [4] After flying to the west without spotting the runway, the pilot calmly admitted to the first officer that he had made a mistake and had become distracted by talking to her, and performed another steep right turn, with bank angles as high as 45° and descent rates of over 2,000 ft/min (610 m/min).[1]: 27 [4] Eventually, with air traffic controllers on the radio still trying to clarify where the aircraft was going and the plane flying in a southeasterly direction, the first officer spotted runway 20 at the aircraft's 3 o'clock position, about two nautical miles (2.3 mi; 3.7 km) away, and the pilot made a sharp and abrupt right turn back to the west in an attempt to return to the approach end of the runway.[24] Shortly after the accident, a local news agency published a video taken by Kathmandu residents showing the plane flying very low in the vicinity of the airport.It said the cockpit voice and flight data recorders had been recovered and had been sent to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada for analysis along with other aircraft components.[28] On 27 August 2018, Nepal's Kathmandu Post newspaper reported that a source had leaked details from the still-ongoing official investigation.The source said that the commission was planning to assign blame for the crash on Captain Abid Sultan, and said that he was smoking continuously in the cockpit, lied to the control tower during the landing, and engaged in erratic behavior.[30] The final investigation report released on 27 January 2019 concluded that pilot disorientation and a lack of situation awareness led to the crash.The report also shows that Sultan made multiple abusive statements regarding a young female pilot whom he had trained and who had questioned his reputation as an instructor.[5] The sole Bangladeshi representative on the investigative panel was publicly critical of the final report, saying that it left out the fact that air traffic controllers at the airport did not execute their duties properly.
Runway excursionpilot errorunstable approachTribhuvan International AirportKathmanduBombardier Q400US-Bangla AirlinesRegistrationHazrat Shahjalal International Airportinternational passenger flightgovernment of Nepalsituational awarenessair traffic controllersBangladesh Standard Timefirst officerApproachholding patternwaypointflight management systemautopilotScandinavian AirlinesSaidpurBangladesh Air ForceNepali Prime MinisterKhadga Prasad Olichief executive officercockpit voice and flight data recordersTransportation Safety Board of CanadaKathmandu Postsituation awarenessMaydayYouTubeNepali TimesAviation Safety NetworkThe New York TimesDaily Mirror1973 Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 hijackingThai Airways International Flight 311Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268Everest Air Dornier 228 crashHinduja Cargo Services Flight 8533Necon Air Flight 128Indian Airlines Flight 814Royal Nepal Airlines crash2002 Shangri-La Air Twin Otter crash2006 Yeti Airlines Twin Otter crashShree Air Mil Mi-8 crashYeti Airlines Flight 101Agni Air Flight 101Tara Air Twin Otter crashBuddha Air Flight 103Agni Air Dornier 228 crashSita Air Flight 601Nepal Airlines Flight 555Nepal Airlines Flight 183Charikot helicopter crashTara Air Flight 193Air Kasthamandap PAC 750XL crashGoma Air Flight 4092019 Air Dynasty helicopter crashTara Air Flight 197Yeti Airlines Flight 691Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 crashAviation accidents and incidentsPegasus Airlines Flight 8622Sapphire Aviation Bell UH-1H Iroquois crashSaratov Airlines Flight 703United Airlines Flight 1175Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704Russian Air Force Antonov An-26 crashIran Bombardier Challenger 604 crashNew York City helicopter crashAlgerian Air Force Il-76 crashSouthwest Airlines Flight 1380U.S. Air National Guard C-130 crashSichuan Airlines Flight 8633Cubana de Aviación Flight 972UY Aviation King Air C90 crashPretoria Convair 340 crashAir Vanuatu Flight 241Aeroméxico Connect Flight 2431Ju-Air Junkers Ju 52 crashK2 Aviation de Havilland Beaver crashHorizon Air Q400 incidentXiamenAir Flight 8667UTair Flight 579Yirol Let L-410 Turbolet crashAir Niugini Flight 73Leicester helicopter crashLion Air Flight 610Sky Lease Cargo Flight 4854Fly Jamaica Airways Flight 256Air Astana Flight 1388Gatwick Airport drone incidentPuebla helicopter crash