Probe reports of past air crashes lost: Taskforce

KATHMANDU, Aug 18: Most reports submitted to the government by committees formed in past decades to probe air crashes are nowhere to be found, a high-level taskforce formed by the government to investigate compliance with recommendations made by such committees said.



Medini Prasad Sharma, coordinator of the five-member taskforce formed nine months ago that submitted its report to the government this week, said the taskforce therefore had to rely on probe reports of crashes after 1992 for investigating whether relevant agencies had acted on recommendations of such reports. [break]



"Air crashes have happened in Nepal since 1957. But most reports submitted by committees formed to probe crashes that occurred until 1990 are missing," he said, adding, "We found a serious lack of institutional memory on aviation safety."



Sharma´s taskforce also found that recommendations made by committees that probed crashes that occurred after 1992 had also not been fully complied with by relevant agencies.



"We found partial compliance in some cases, and utter non-compliance in some cases. More importantly, we didn´t find meaningful monitoring of whether the recommendations were complied with," Sharma said.



Given these findings, Sharma´s taskforce has recommended to the government that a permanent body dealing exclusively with aviation safety be formed in the country for keeping institutional records, conducting research on the country´s aviation vulnerabilities and gaining expertise on dealing with such vulnerabilities.



"Such a body is a must to make aviation in the country safer," said Sharma.



Causes of crashes



The taskforce found three major reasons behind air crashes in the country.



"The first is weak infrastructure, due to which a minor lack of precision can lead to a major crash," Sharma said.



The second is navigation challenges caused by weather conditions. The taskforce found the country´s airports lack navigation equipment necessary to neutralize the challenging diversity of weather that prevails along the country´s flight routes.



The third is lack of simulation flight trainings for preparing pilots to conducts flights to rural airports.



"Let alone provide simulation training for conducting flights to rural airports, we found that data for such simulation training have not been prepared," he said.



Weak laws



The taskforce also found that the country´s aviation laws are not on par with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. This allows airline operators to get away with operating procedures below ICAO standards.



Though Nepal is an ICAO member, it does not have the laws requiring airline operators to stick to ICAO standards.



"In such conditions, ICAO standards serve as guidelines at best, and not as mandatory requirements," said Sharma. "In case a major crash occurs due to non-compliance with standard operating procedures, attempt to prosecute airline operator becomes legally weak," he said.

Related story

Tourism ministry forms taskforce to probe Air Arabia’s  allege...