Yeti Crach Probe Committee has directed the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to conduct a comprehensive study to determine visual approach criteria on Runway 12 of the Pokhara International Airport (PIA).

This is the immediate recommendation made by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission looking into the Yeti Airlines plane crash that occurred in Pokhara on January 15.

The Commission, led by former Secretary Nagendra Prasad Ghimire, based this recommendation on the data it recovered from the flight data recorder of the crashed 9N-ANC plane. From the data, members of the probe team were able to piece together the path the ill-fated flight carrying 72 people took on its approach to PIA. They also recovered the path taken by another flight, piloted by a different crew that landed on Runway 12 at PIA three days before the accident under investigation.

In both these flights, due to the shortened final approach leg for Pokhara’s Runway 12, the Commission found that the stabilization criteria for a visual approach could not be stabilised at the height of 500 feet above ground level. Therefore, through the Preliminary Accident Investigation Report it submitted to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on Wednesday, the Commission has asked CAAN to look into this issue before allowing visual approach landings at this particular landing strip.

However, investigation is still ongoing and the Commission stressed that its findings could change as it looks at multiple facets of the incident.

Based on the report of The Rising Nepal