It took two hours of effort to tow the crash-landed aircraft from the runway. Although Nepal Police and Army personnel were deployed in large numbers for hauling the aircraft away, the absence of necessary equipment to lift the upper parts of the aircraft took up a lot of time.
Although the big accident was averted, the airport management found it difficult to reopen the airport for landing. Such incidents can hardly be called rare."The airport has been facing severe lack of necessary equipment to move aircraft in case of such accidents," said an airport worker. "The problem is persistent from long time ago and we've been facing unnecessary hassles during such times," he added.
He complained that the government has been spending only on electricity and roads. "The government never saw the need to purchase necessary airport equipment," he added.
Head of the airport, Deepak Baral, said, "We do not have aircraft removal kit. That's the reason why we have been facing such problems."
Private airlines have acknowledged that lack of proper tools and equipment have made rescue efforts more difficult. "It's a good news that today's incident is only a minor one. But the lack of necessary equipment is really frustrating," said Poshan Mani Tripathi, station manager of Goma Airlines at Pokhara.
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