ATC - Alvorlig luftfartshendelse i Nepal - Aviation24.be

Nepal suspends two air traffic controllers for ‘carelessness’

By

 Maarten Van Den Driessche

 -

27 March 2023

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has suspended two employees of the air traffic controller department for “carelessness”, the aviation body’s spokesperson Jagannath Niroula has told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.

On Friday 24 March, an Air India and a Nepal Airlines aircraft came close to colliding in midair while they were waiting to land at Kathmandu’s busy international airport (KTM). The warning systems alerted the pilots which averted the disaster

Air India AI213 was operating from New Delhi to KTM and Nepal Air RA416 was arriving in KTM from Kuala Lumpur just before 09:00 on Friday. The Air India A319 was flying at 19,000 feet and was given permission to descend for its arrival. At the same location, RA416, an A320, was flying at 15,000 feet and was forced to descend to 7,000 feet to avoid a mid-air collision.

In addition to difficult flying conditions, Nepal’s air transport sector has been plagued by accidents due to poor maintenance, insufficient training and lax standards.

The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over safety concerns.