Air safety

The Tara Air Twin Otter crash at Okhaldhunga district on Wednesday in which 22 people lost their lives has once again ignited the debate on how safe our domestic airlines are. The issue comes to the fore as and when there is an air crash but quickly subsides only to resurface when there is another unfortunate crash and more precious human lives are lost. It is now high time we gave the issue some serious thought. It is the regularity with which air crashes happen in Nepal that gives skeptics the room to ponder if our flight safety mechanism is indeed inadequate. Just less than four months before the latest crash, a Dornier aircraft operated by Agni Air had crashed at Makawanpur district killing all 14 people on board. On Nov 7, a helicopter owned by Fishtail Air had crashed near the base camp of Mt Everest killing both its crew members.



What leads to these frequent crashes? Is it simply our difficult topography and unpredictable weather conditions? If that is the case, is it time for us to disallow airplanes to take off until we are assured that the weather would not lead to a crash? What about our pilots and co-pilots? Is their flying experience enough to pilot airplanes in the hostile geography of Nepal? What about the aircraft? Are they good enough and technically-sound to fly in the unfriendly weather of Nepal? Honestly, we are not technically-qualified to answer these questions. However, we are certain that it is time for us to have a discourse on these issues. Maintaining the status-quo can be disastrous for our tourism industry, especially considering the fact that Nepal Tourism Year 2011 is just round the corner. It is high time we took steps to redeem the image and credibility of our airlines in the eyes of tourists and domestic travelers alike.



The Tara Twin Otter crash has also brought another important issue to the fore: That of ticketing agents and airlines faking the names of their customers to pocket the difference in ticket prices for foreign nationals and Nepali nationals. Travel agents do not provide the airlines with the real identity and nationality of the passengers and the airport staff do not check any identification of the passengers. This practice has to end. Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation along with other agencies working for tourism such as Nepal Tourism Board, Nepal Association of Travel Agents etc should work toward ending this practice so that no foreign national flies with false identity and nationality. It will not only help immediately identify victims in case of a crash but also prevent criminals from taking advantage of our lax policy.

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