An investigation conducted by the department has found that the pilots detected the problem in the hydraulic system within minutes of taking off from New Delhi airport. By any measure this was a serious lapse, and occurrence of another problem during the flight to Kathmandu could have brought disaster, a source at the department told myrepublica.com on condition of anonymity.
"With regard to air safety, it would have been better if the pilots had taken the aircraft back to New Delhi," the source said. Despite knowing this, the pilots flew on to Kathmandu to save the airline any additional financial burden likely to be incurred by turning back to New Delhi airport, said the source.
This has raised a serious question as to whether NAC is more concerned about possible rises in its overhead or about passenger safety, the source said.
The NAC aircraft in which the problem was detected had three hydraulic systems. The hydraulic systems control the landing gear, wing adjustments and the landing brakes, among other things. Loss of one of the hydraulic systems only renders the plane abnormal but not disastrous as there are multiple independent systems to control the plane.
"But if another system had broken down while flying on to Kathmandu, the abnormal situation could have converted into a critical one," the source said.
On July 21, NAC´s Boeing 757 (9N ACA) made an emergency landing at Tribhuwan International Airport after encountering the leak in its hydraulic system. The plane flying in from New Delhi was carrying 35 passengers and a crew of 12.
NAC management had downplayed the problem, calling it a "minor technical error."
rupak@myrepublica.com
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