Description

On 28 September 2012, a Dornier 228-200 being operated by Sita Air on a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Kathmandu to Lukla failed to sustain its initial climb after take off in day Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) and having reached a maximum height of about 100 feet aal, it entered a stall from which recovery was not achieved before ground impact and subsequent fire which led to the death of all 19 occupants and the destruction of the aircraft.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by an Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission appointed by the Nepalese Government. The Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) were recovered and downloaded but some FDR information was missing because it relied on sensors external to the recorder which had been disabled by the effects of the impact and fire. The CVR recording was used undertake Spectrum analysis of the CAM channel to analyse the sound of each engine as an “audio signature” and to identify the incidence of other noises, including one which corresponded with a ‘flash’ captured on CCTV appearing to come from one of the engines shortly before the aircraft became airborne.