Buddha Air

ATR 72-500

Buddha Air flight U4901, operated by an ATR 72-500, overran runway 10 after landing at Bhadrapur Airport (BDP) in Koshi Province. Data from the FDR showed that the touchdown point was approximately 420 meters from the end of the Runway 10. There were visible skid marks starting from approximately 1112 m of runway 10 indicating braking action taken by the crew. The aircraft veered right and then towards left before exiting the runway. The aircraft broke the inner fence of the aerodrome and stopped at a creek at approximately 183 m east of the runway. Both main and nose landing gears, propellers and engines sustained substantial damage. Runway 10 is a bitumen runway with a Landing Distance Available (LDA) of 1500 m.

Beechcraft 1900D

The aircraft was performing a special flight with tourists above the Himalayan mountains and especially a tour of the Everest in the early morning. While returning to Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport, the copilot (PIC) was cleared to descend to 6,000 feet for a landing on runway 02. In marginal weather conditions, he passed below 6,000 feet until the aircraft contacted trees and crashed in hilly and wooded terrain located near the village of Bishanku Narayan, some 6,7 km southeast of the airport. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. A passenger was seriously injured while 18 other occupants were killed. Few hours later, the only survivor died from his injuries. The 16 tourists were respectively 10 Indians, 2 Americans, 1 Japanese and 3 Nepalese.