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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 12:09am PT
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Several folks posting have referred to the large Russian helicopters that used to fly into Lukla and other high altitude strips in Nepal.
From research, I think it was the Mi-17.
When I first went to Nepa in 2005, the Mi-17 had only recently stopped doing commercial flying. My guide friends asserted they had all crashed. Apparently they had instead lost certification for commercial flights, and the Nepalese military was still using Mi-17s. In fall 2008, I saw a couple that looked like working models, at the military part of the Kathmandu airport.
Some background and link to a great near-disastrous crash video
From the Nepali Times, June 7 2002.
The Russian-built Mi-17 has in the past ten years become the Tata truck of the airways in Nepal. Asian Airlines was a pioneer in introducing these versatile heavy-lift helicopters, but has now lost both its craft, one last week, and the other destroyed by Maoists in Surkhet last year. "There's nothing to match the lifting capacity and cost-effectiveness of the Mi-17," says Ang Tshering Sherpa, chairman of Asian Airlines.
Sherpa is planning to add three more helicopters, one Mi- 17, and two versions of the same certified to carry passengers. With its capacity to carry four tons of cargo or 24 passengers, the Mi-17 ferries everything from hydro-power turbines and construction material to remote parts of the country. The Mi-17 has also become the mainstay of many mountaineering expeditions and the ferrying of grain to food deficit districts.
Although the Russian machines are rugged and cheap, they are no match for the altitude performance of another popular model in Nepal: the French-built Ecureil AS 350, which is operated by the army, Karnali Air and others.
Here is link to a Mi-17 doing a “hard landing” at Makalu Base camp. It is a miracle that it didn’t flip or explode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkIQFqRlOTw
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Feb 14, 2011 - 12:48am PT
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I laughed when I heard the Nepali shouting "pugyo, pugyo" in the background of the Makalu crash. It translates as " it's good enough, it will be alright". Typical Nepali attitude - near enough is good enough. Forget the details, what's a little damage like broken off wheels here and there?
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Feb 14, 2011 - 12:57am PT
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The closest I came to dying on a flight in Nepal, was actually played out in the Kathmandu airport. I was supposed to fly to Jiri and then walk half a day to the Hindu village I was researching.
I arrived at the airport late with a metal trunk full of research notes. The pilot, copilot and a couple of other officials in uniforms were calculating and recalculating the load limits. Finally they told me that they could take me but not my trunk of notebooks. The assured me I could leave the trunk at the airport and they would send it as cargo on the next weeky flight.
Of course there was no way in hell I would ever let go of my research notes so I told them that either the trunk would go or I wouldn't go. More checking of numbers with worried faces. Finally, I understood that they were willing to risk my life and others to try to keep me happy. I told them, never mind, I will come back next week. There was such a sigh of relief that I knew I had not only saved my life but theirs too.
The next week I was the first one at the checkout counter and reminded them several times not to overload the plane.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Feb 14, 2011 - 09:39am PT
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One of the moxt critical factors for a safe flight is staying within the weight and balance limits of an airplane. In the course of my flight instruction, the one thing I learned; when the airlines announce that they want volunteers to get off the plane and take a bonus for another flight later, I practically knock down whoever is standing between me and the exit door of the airplane. This is partixcularly the case on the small regional feeder airlines: Mesa, Sky West, etc.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Oct 26, 2012 - 11:53pm PT
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There are many stories in Nepal of overloaded planes that have crashed.
In one case, an important official demanded to get on with his family and luggage
and the pilot was heard to say, "This will be the day that I die".
He took off, and nose dived into the jungle with no survivors.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Oct 27, 2012 - 12:25am PT
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Some things do improve.
I've taken the liberty to post Fritz's photo of Lukla again
to show the progress over the years.
Jan's Lukla 1979
Fritz's Lukla 2005
It's still a dangerous airport as the rock wall and cliff is still at one end,
and the 2,000 foot drop off into the river at the other.
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cmcc
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Oct 27, 2012 - 01:57am PT
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I remember how the plane erupted in joy and clapping as we touched down. What a wild ride I will never forget!
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cmcc
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Oct 27, 2012 - 02:01am PT
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Down on the right (from the picture above) there were remains of a crashed plane. This was 10 years ago. Not a very comforting sight.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 27, 2012 - 02:57am PT
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Lukla is a VFR only airport, obviously. One of those recent crashes was
due to a cowboy trying to land in non-VFR conditions. Getthereitis is an
indiscriminant killer of many.
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giegs
climber
Tardistan
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Oct 27, 2012 - 03:31am PT
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How many of you pilots are ex-military? If not, where'd you get your start? That's a world that's always seemed out of reach to a poor fool like myself.
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Edwardmw
climber
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Oct 27, 2012 - 09:20am PT
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I have landed at Tegucigalpa, Honduras a couple times, number two on the list. No big deal really, not scary at all.
Ed
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 27, 2012 - 12:27pm PT
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Edwardmw, so you got lucky a few times, I'm happy for you! I was gonna say
that Tegucigalpa would scare me more than Lukla. Tegucigalpa demands a quick
turn to a short base leg followed by a quick turn to a short final with a
relatively short runway with no over-run. And we're not talking about landing
Twin Otters or DO-28's. There's a reason 'civilized' airports feature straight-in
approaches of many miles which allow you to get a nice comfy 'stabilized approach'
established. It is amazing nothing major ever ocurred at Kai Tek, a Tegucigalpa
for 747's if you will, considering some of the cowboys that landed their 747's there.
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steve shea
climber
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Oct 27, 2012 - 12:59pm PT
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The king of Nepal had a personal helicopter. A French Super Puma. Somehow he put it at our disposal for our NF Ama Dablam Exped. There had been bad weather both in KTM and Lukla so planes and travelers were stacked up for days. We needed to get moving so got the king's bird. I do not know who pulled the string but it was appreciated. Best heli ride of my life. We flew right through the weather no problem and beat hundreds to Lukla and Namche. Several times on flights into KTM the pilot had to do fly by's to move grazing animals off of the runway. One time it was not working after several passes so we landed anyway and almost went off the hill at the north end of the runway. When we turned at the end the wing tip was well over the abyss, and below at the golf course, people were running for their lives cause they thought were going to augur in.
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Edwardmw
climber
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Oct 27, 2012 - 08:26pm PT
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Reilly,
I think I saw on Discovery or History worst 10, that they may have extended the runway after the last crash where a plane ran off the end of the run way, over and onto the highway.
Ed
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Oct 27, 2012 - 08:30pm PT
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Good story Steve! They're supposed to have a siren that goes off 5 minutes before landing so that the police can run out on the runway and chase the animals off with their bamboo batons. I guess they were on tea break the day you landed.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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May 11, 2013 - 07:11am PT
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Here's an interesting photo of Lukla airport that really gives a sense of the stone wall and mountain at one end and the abyss at the other.
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Stewart Johnson
climber
lake forest
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May 11, 2013 - 10:12am PT
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Cross your fingers
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Topic Author's Reply - May 16, 2013 - 12:02pm PT
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Looks like Jomsom Nepal can be added to the list with two crashes in the last year, including this one today.
A Nepal Airlines aircraft crashed while attempting to land at Jomsom Airport in Mustang on Thursday morning.
There were 21 passengers, including three crew members and eight Japanese tourists, were on board the charted flight.
The NA-9NABO Twin Otter that took off from Pokhara at 8.10 this morning skidded off the runway of Jomsom airstrip and crashed onto the banks of Kaligandaki River at 8.33 am, multiple sources said.
Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that Captain Deependra Pradhan, Co-Captain Suresh KC, Airhostess Santa Maya Tamang and passengers Gobinda Pahadi of Parbat and Japanese tourists S Akawa and Khawesa Chiyo have sustained critical injuries. They were flown to Pokhara by Tara Air aircraft for treatment.
Other injured have been identified as Dilli Raj Panta, Madhu Panta , Nuru Lakpa Sherpa, Uma Thapa Magar, Santosh BK, Pema Gurung, GR Thakuri, K Gurung, AL Sherpa and two-year old Hemsung. They have been undergoing treatment in a local hospital in Mustang, Local Development Officer Dilli Ram Sigdel informed.
The crash might have been caused by a sudden gust of wind that caught the plane while it attempted to make a landing. However, the exact reason for the crash has not been confirmed.
From Fritz: Another mid-May Crash in Jomsom last year killed a number of passengers. I flew in and out of Jomsom in October 2008 while on my way to Mustang. The strip sets in a river valley at 8,800 ft. between Dhaulighiri & Annapurna. Great views flying in and out, but not a place to be in nasty weather.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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May 16, 2013 - 12:09pm PT
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Very sad especially in view of how easy a Twin Otter is to fly and its
fantastic short field capabilities.
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