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The plane in which seven Britons died en route to Mount Everest may have crashed because it hit a bird just after take-off, when it was already struggling due to being overloaded, a report into the crash has concluded.
The twin-engine propeller plane crashed shortly after take-off near Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, last September.
Among the seven British victims were Raymond Eagle, 58, from Macclesfield, Timothy Oakes, 57, from Warrington, and brothers Vincent and Darren Kelly, aged 50 and 45, from Lostock, near Bolton.
The plane lost power and slowed down at a crucial point during take-off but investigators were unable to find why this happened.
It meant the plane was not high enough to recover when it went off course.
The report also records that while preparing for take-off, the pilot twice noticed a bird and as the plane accelerated, he said 'watch out for the bird'.
The first officer reported being clear of it as he accelerated but the crew later reported a bird strike.
However, no evidence of it was found in the engine.
Investigators said: 'It is possible that the bird momentarily disturbed the air flow into the engine before it was struck by the propeller, causing a surge and the suspected flame seen in the CCTV footage, but the engine manufacturer considered this unlikely.
'If the flame seen in the CCTV and accompanying "bang" heard on the CVR were evidence of an engine surge, then another possible cause is a fuel flow problem.'
As the plane turned, it lost power and began to descend, before suddenly hitting the ground just 420 metres from the runway.
The report says one engine failed and the other suffered a power loss.
The engine was also operating at low power.
It said: 'There was no evidence to suggest that the flight crew recognised that a power loss had occurred on the ground, possibly because it occurred gradually and progressively rather than instantaneously. This would account for why the takeoff was continued.'
They concluded there was no evidence of a bird in the engine, both engines were low on power and when speed fell, there was no power to accelerate.
It added: 'The investigation was unable to determine the cause of the thrust reduction.'
Five Chinese also died, as well as three passengers and four crew members from Nepal.
The tragedy had been blamed simply on the plane striking a bird of prey at a height of 50ft as it took off from Tribhuvan Airport in the Nepalese capital heading for Lukla near Everest.
But experts doubted whether that alone would have prevented the pilot from bringing the Sita Air Dornier D-228 back around for an emergency landing at the airport.
Indian government aviation minister Suresh Acharya said that the combined weight of passengers and luggage carried by the plane would play a key part in the inquiry, which British investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch assisted with.
Mr Acharya
said: ‘The bird strike may not be the sole reason behind the crash.’
And Kuma Sherchan, an experienced pilot with the Nepal Airlines Corporation said: ‘A bird hitting the plane should not be considered in isolation during the investigation.
‘Several factors, such as technical maintenance, load, pressure on airline operators and many more, lead to an air crash.’
All those on board – including 12 people from Nepal and China – died in the inferno when the twin-prop aircraft ploughed into a riverbank minutes after take off.
The Britons, who were due to begin trekking in the Himalayas, were travelling with Hampshire-based company Explore Worldwide.
They were named as Raymond Eagle, 58, from Macclesfield, Cheshire; Timothy Oakes, 57, from Winwick, near Warrington, and his friend Stephen Holding, 60, from Barlaston in Stoke-on-Trent; Vincent Kelly, 50, from Lostock, Bolton, and his brother Darren, 45, from Isle of Whithorn, Galloway; Christopher Davey, 51, from Moulton in Northamptonshire; and lawyer Benjamin Ogden, 27, from London. Former headmaster Mr Oakes and retired science teacher Mr Holding had been childhood friends and were members of a climbing club.
Mr Holding’s widow, Maggie, said: ‘Steve always loved being in the mountains. He had done a lot of work with Peak Pursuits taking youngsters on Duke of Edinburgh activities.’
Mr Oakes’s wife, Angie Gaunt, 54, said he ‘died doing something he always wanted to do.’
Mr Ogden, an Oxford-educated lawyer, lived with girlfriend Stephanie Illingworth in London and worked at international law firm Allen & Overy.
Miss Illingworth said they had planned to marry and she had lost her ‘soulmate’.
She added: ‘My whole world has been turned upside down.’
The plane in which seven Britons died en route to Mount Everest may have crashed because it hit a bird just after take-off, when it was already struggling due to being overloaded, a report into the crash has concluded.
The twin-engine propeller plane crashed shortly after take-off near Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, last September.
Among the seven British victims were Raymond Eagle, 58, from Macclesfield, Timothy Oakes, 57, from Warrington, and brothers Vincent and Darren Kelly, aged 50 and 45, from Lostock, near Bolton.
Overloaded?: The picture of rucksacks and personal belongings found at the wreckage site in Nepal
Victims: Stephen Holding, pictured left with his
wife Maggie, and Benjamin Ogden, pictured with his girlfriend
Stephanie, were both killed in the plane crash that killed 19 people
Fireball: Firefighters battle to douse the
burning wreckage of a plane which crashed on the edge of the Nepalese
capital, killing 19 people including seven Britons
It meant the plane was not high enough to recover when it went off course.
The report also records that while preparing for take-off, the pilot twice noticed a bird and as the plane accelerated, he said 'watch out for the bird'.
The first officer reported being clear of it as he accelerated but the crew later reported a bird strike.
However, no evidence of it was found in the engine.
Investigators said: 'It is possible that the bird momentarily disturbed the air flow into the engine before it was struck by the propeller, causing a surge and the suspected flame seen in the CCTV footage, but the engine manufacturer considered this unlikely.
'If the flame seen in the CCTV and accompanying "bang" heard on the CVR were evidence of an engine surge, then another possible cause is a fuel flow problem.'
As the plane turned, it lost power and began to descend, before suddenly hitting the ground just 420 metres from the runway.
The report says one engine failed and the other suffered a power loss.
Tragic deaths: Britons Raymond Eagle, left, and Timothy Oakes, right, were both killed in the crash
Destroyed: The fire quickly spread to the rear
of the plane, but the tail was still in one piece at the scene near the
Manohara River on the south-west edge of Kathmandu
It said: 'There was no evidence to suggest that the flight crew recognised that a power loss had occurred on the ground, possibly because it occurred gradually and progressively rather than instantaneously. This would account for why the takeoff was continued.'
They concluded there was no evidence of a bird in the engine, both engines were low on power and when speed fell, there was no power to accelerate.
It added: 'The investigation was unable to determine the cause of the thrust reduction.'
Five Chinese also died, as well as three passengers and four crew members from Nepal.
The tragedy had been blamed simply on the plane striking a bird of prey at a height of 50ft as it took off from Tribhuvan Airport in the Nepalese capital heading for Lukla near Everest.
But experts doubted whether that alone would have prevented the pilot from bringing the Sita Air Dornier D-228 back around for an emergency landing at the airport.
Indian government aviation minister Suresh Acharya said that the combined weight of passengers and luggage carried by the plane would play a key part in the inquiry, which British investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch assisted with.
Killed: Vincent Kelly, left, from Lostock, Bolton, and his brother Darren Kelly, right, from Isle of Whithorn
Major operation: Hundreds of rescuers and
members of the public swarm around the site as investigators begin to
piece together the events that led up to the tragedy
And Kuma Sherchan, an experienced pilot with the Nepal Airlines Corporation said: ‘A bird hitting the plane should not be considered in isolation during the investigation.
Traveller: Christopher Davey, 51, from Moulton in Northamptonshire, died in the crash
All those on board – including 12 people from Nepal and China – died in the inferno when the twin-prop aircraft ploughed into a riverbank minutes after take off.
The Britons, who were due to begin trekking in the Himalayas, were travelling with Hampshire-based company Explore Worldwide.
They were named as Raymond Eagle, 58, from Macclesfield, Cheshire; Timothy Oakes, 57, from Winwick, near Warrington, and his friend Stephen Holding, 60, from Barlaston in Stoke-on-Trent; Vincent Kelly, 50, from Lostock, Bolton, and his brother Darren, 45, from Isle of Whithorn, Galloway; Christopher Davey, 51, from Moulton in Northamptonshire; and lawyer Benjamin Ogden, 27, from London. Former headmaster Mr Oakes and retired science teacher Mr Holding had been childhood friends and were members of a climbing club.
Mr Holding’s widow, Maggie, said: ‘Steve always loved being in the mountains. He had done a lot of work with Peak Pursuits taking youngsters on Duke of Edinburgh activities.’
Mr Oakes’s wife, Angie Gaunt, 54, said he ‘died doing something he always wanted to do.’
Mr Ogden, an Oxford-educated lawyer, lived with girlfriend Stephanie Illingworth in London and worked at international law firm Allen & Overy.
Miss Illingworth said they had planned to marry and she had lost her ‘soulmate’.
She added: ‘My whole world has been turned upside down.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2404090/Nepal-plane-crash-killed-7-Britons-probably-caused-eagle-flying-propeller.html
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