Kathmandu - Lukla

On June 9, 1991 at 10:10 AM, Kathmandu - Lukla experienced a crash involving De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, operated by Royal Nepal Airlines, with the event recorded near Lukla-Tenzing-Hillary Sagarmatha.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

17 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 17 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 14, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. While descending to Lukla Airport, weather conditions deteriorated and the captain decided to go-around and to follow a holding pattern. Few minutes later, as he thought weather conditions improved, he decided to attempt to land and initiated a second approach. On short final, the aircraft entered a layer of low clouds and the aircraft was not properly aligned when it struck the runway surface and bounced. Out of control, it veered off runway and came to rest in a ravine. All 17 occupants were injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

Aircraft reference details include registration 9N-ABA, MSN 301, year of manufacture 1971.