The 9N-AET Tara Air plane crash of May 29, 2022 could have been caused by the flight crew’s failure to monitor and maintain proper course while inadvertently flying in instrument meteorological (cloudy or low visibility) conditions with the aircraft’s Terrain Avoidance and Warning System (TAWS) inhibited.

Issuing a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation shared that the five-member probe commission formed on May 30 to look into the accident had submitted its final draft report to Minister Sudan Kirati and that this report concluded the crew’s aforementioned failure probably led to the crash that killed all 22 people on board.

At around quarter past 10 on May 29 last year, the DHC6-300 Twin Otter aeroplane, belonging to Tara Air, went missing while flying from Pokhara to Jomsom. An intensive search followed which found the wreckage of the plane at Sanusare, Thasang Rural Municipality–2, Mustang at an altitude of 14,500 feet the next morning. There were no survivors.

Similarly, the commission, led by senior aeronautical engineer Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, has also identified eight factors that contributed to the tragedy. One of them, as per the Ministry’s statement, was the cabin crew’s failure to follow the standard operating procedures of their company.