Why planes crash so often in Nepal

At least 18 people have been killed after a small plane crashed and caught fire while it was taking off from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.

The Saurya Airlines flight was carrying two crew and 17 of the company’s staff members, Dan Bahadur Karki, a Nepali police spokesman, said.

The crash raises fresh concerns about the safety of Nepalese skies. The country has seen 19 fatal aviation incidents since the turn of the century, with a total of 359 fatalities. Today’s accident follows the crash of Yeti Airlines Flight 691 in January 2023, Nepal’s deadliest in 30 years.

All Nepalese airlines have been banned from European airspace since 2013 over their poor safety records and while aviation regulators have noted some improvements in recent years, they say issues remain.

Here, we consider why Nepal remains one of the world’s most dangerous places to fly, and ask what passengers looking to travel there can do to minimise their risks.

What caused the latest crash?

The causes of the latest crash remain unclear, but more details are likely to emerge in the coming days.

The plane crashed at around 11:15 am (05:30 GMT), the Nepali military said in a statement. News site Khabarhub reported that the aircraft had caught fire after skidding on the runway.

The plane was scheduled to fly on Nepal’s busiest air route between Kathmandu and Pokhara, an important tourism hub in the Himalayan republic. Saurya Airlines exclusively flies Bombardier CRJ200s, according to its website. The crash leaves it with a fleet of just one aircraft.

Does Nepal suffer more crashes than other countries?

Yes. The crash is Nepal’s 12th fatal air accident in as many years, a remarkable stat considering its relatively modest flight schedule.

While there is no definitive global reference of aviation safety by country, by most metrics Nepal is one of the world’s most dangerous places to fly.

As mentioned above, all Nepalese airlines have been banned from European airspace since 2013 over their poor safety records.

An International Civil Aviation Organisation audit of aviation safety in 2022 found that the level of implementation of certain elements of safety management in Nepal remained below the global average.

AirlineRatings.com ranks Nepal Airlines in its bottom 14 airlines for safety, with just one star, alongside carriers from Iran and Suriname.

What are the causes of Nepal’s poor safety record?

A combination of factors have led to Nepal’s worrying record. AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas lists three key reasons, including “treacherous flying conditions in and around the Himalayas”, sometimes “substandard pilot training and thus skills”, plus “poor and dangerous airports which are often below world standards due to the mountainous terrain.”

The country is home to many of the world’s highest mountains, which makes it uniquely hazardous for pilots, who must navigate both the peaks and rapidly changing weather. Back in 2015, the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization prioritised the country for technical assistance, subsequently stating its “beautiful but rugged terrain makes the safety of air operations more challenging than in other areas of the world.”

Mountainous airports generally have shorter runways, which require higher pilot skill and can only accommodate smaller, sometimes less reliable aircraft. Nepal’s Lukla Airport, the gateway to the Everest region, has previously been dubbed the world’s most dangerous, an unwelcome but unsurprising title given its accident rate. The airport’s runway is just 1,729 feet long (Heathrow’s shortest is 12,008 feet) and ends abruptly at a brick wall. With rising mountains all around there is little opportunity for an aborted landing so pilots must get it right the first time. The airport’s altitude also means the air is thinner so planes have no choice but to arrive faster, too.

As Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in Asia, it’s unsurprising that some of its airlines have ageing fleets and its pilot training programmes might not rival those of western countries. Industry insiders have observed some older planes don’t even have GPS systems. Still, according to the website Planespotters.net, the Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft involved in the latest crash (registration 9N-AME) was 21 years old – a fairly typical age for a commercial plane. The Yeti Airlines aircraft involved in the 2023 crash was only 15 years old.

Some feel Nepalese authorities could do more to increase safety in the skies. After a 2022 crash involving Tara Air, Ashok Pokharel, president of the Nepal Association of Tour Operators, told the Guardian: “The older aircraft don’t have modern weather radars. That could be mandated so the captain has real-time weather information for what he is flying into.”

What can travellers do to lessen their risks?

Those hoping to head out on bucket-list Everest trips or other Himalayan trekking holidays may be anxious about booking internal flights in the country, which, given the poor state of its roads, are hard to avoid.

The Foreign Office (FCDO) travel advice page for Nepal states: “Air crashes can have a variety of causes and are not necessarily linked with poor safety standards or non-compliance with international safety standards. However, there have been a number of fatal accidents and air crashes across Nepal in the commercial air transport sector (involving planes and helicopters). Over the last five years, this includes a number of separate incidents and at least 100 deaths.

It adds: “The UK Air Safety List (ASL) lists all known airlines in Nepal that do not meet international safety standards and are banned from operating commercial air services to or from the UK. Check the UK Air Safety List when considering whether to fly and which airlines to fly with. The list is maintained by the Department for Transport, based on advice from the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

“Currently no Nepali airline meets the international safety standards and so all are listed on the ASL. This means they are all banned from operating commercial air services to or from the UK.”

In the end, tourists set on a trip may simply have to assess their own appetite for risk. As Geoffrey Thomas states: “For travellers and adventure tourists there is little choice. Everest is dangerous to climb and so is flying there.”

This article was first published in January 2023 and has been revised and updated.