CAAN introduces rule to initiate landing process above 1,000 feet when the aircraft lands: Director General

KATHMANDU, Feb 12: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has introduced a new rule for landing aircraft for the safety of the aviation industry. 

Director General of CAAN, Pradeep Adhikari, said that the landing process of aircraft should be initiated 1,000 feet above the ground as per the new rule.

He said that the new rule has been brought in the wake of the incident of Yeti Airlines plane crash, where the landing procedure was started at a lower altitude than the assigned height.

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Speaking at a meeting of the National Concerns and Coordination Committee held at Singha Durbar on Sunday, the CAAN Director General said, "During the Pokhara air accident, it was found that the landing process had started after the plane had descended too low. Therefore, in order to address this issue, a rule has been introduced that landing should be done only after managing all landing processes above 1,000 feet."

Yeti Airlines' ATR-72 aircraft with call sign 9N ANC crashed on January 15 in Pokhara killing all 72 people  on board, including 68 passengers and four crew members. The aircraft crashed into the Seti River george near the Friendship Bridge between the new and the old airports. 

The CAAN director general also informed that weather cameras have been installed in the Himalayan and high mountain areas where regular weather information is not available. 

“After the accident in Jomsom, the authority has now installed live weather cameras in all places along the Pokhara-Jomsom route in collaboration with the National Innovation Center.”

Now preparations are being made to install weather cameras in Lukla and Simikot soon, he added.

Director General Adhikari said that after installing the live weather camera, the pilots can get all the information about the route before the flight. 

"The flight safety risk assessment is mandatory before a flight,” he said adding, “After the Tara Air accident, we had a rule to fly only after we were guaranteed to be safe.”

Director General Adhikari said that the Tara Air accident was caused due to bad weather in remote areas.