2006 Shree Air Mil Mi-8 crash

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Shree Air Mil Mi-8 Crash
Baltic Airlines Mil Mi-8 Aladyshkin.jpg
A Mil Mi-8 helicopter, similar to the one involved in the accident
Accident
Date23 September 2006
Summary Pilot error along with poor airline training [1]
Site Ghunsa, Nepal
Aircraft
Aircraft type Mil Mi-8
Operator Shree Air
Registration 9N-AHJ
Flight origin Phungling, Nepal
Destination Ghunsa, Nepal
Occupants24
Passengers20
Crew4
Fatalities24
Survivors0

On 23 September 2006, a Shree Air Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashed on a chartered flight from Phungling to Ghunsa in Eastern Nepal. The accident killed all 24 passengers and crew on board, including an expedition of World Wide Fund for Nature. [1]

Contents

Aircraft

The helicopter involved with the accident was a Mil Mi-8 MTV 1.

Crew and victims

On board the helicopter was an expedition of World Wide Fund for Nature returning from an conservation event in Taplejung District, where the Government of Nepal handed the management of the park around Kanchenjunga to the local people. The WWF team included Chandra Gurung and Harka Gurung. Other passengers on board the ill-fated helicopter included politician Gopal Rai. [2] [3]

Casualties by nationality
CountryDeaths (Crew)Deaths (Passengers)
Flag of Nepal.svg   Nepal214
Flag of Russia.svg Russia20
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg UK01
Flag of the United States.svg USA02
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada01
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia01
Flag of Finland.svg Finland01
Total420

Incident

The helicopter took off at 10:45 NPT on 23 September 2006. Shortly afterwards, the helicopter was declared missing. Two days later, the wreckage of the helicopter was found south-west of Ghunsa. [4] Bad weather was assumed to have caused the crash at the beginning. [5]

Investigation

The final report on the accident the committee of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal stated that the pilots entering cloudy areas in unfamiliar terrain as well as bad crew resource management were the main causes of the accident. It furthermore criticized the operating airline, Shree Air, on their training proceedings. [1]

Aftermath

A day of mourning was observed throughout Nepal and schools and public offices were closed on 27 September 2006. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Final Report of Accident Investigation of Helicopter 9N-AHJ" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  2. "A conservation catastrophe for Nepal". BBC. 25 September 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  3. "Helicopter Carrying 7 WWF Staff Crashes in Nepal" (PDF). WWF. 6 December 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  4. "Tragic Helicopter Crash in Nepal". WWF Nepal. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Teams recover Nepal crash bodies". BBC. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2018.