UK experts join investigation into Nepal plane crash which killed seven Britons

BRITISH air accident investigators are working alongside officials in Nepal to find the cause of a plane crash which cost the lives of 19 passengers, including seven Britons.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Oct 2012, 07:00 BST

Two staff from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch flew to the Himalayan country on Saturday to assist local authorities probing the disaster.

The Dornier twin-engine propeller plane crashed two minutes after take-off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport on Friday morning, killing everyone on board.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Initial reports suggested a bird strike was to blame, but the Nepalese aviation ministry is reported to have said it believes pilot error lay behind the tragedy.

Officials are investigating a theory the plane was overloaded with both people and baggage, and that when the plane hit a bird the pilot didn’t have enough speed to turn around and make an emergency landing, Sky News reported.

The British group, who arrived in Nepal on Wednesday and were due to begin trekking in the Himalayas on Friday, were travelling with Hampshire-based travel 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 Stoke-on-Trent.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Vincent Kelly, 50, from Lostock, Bolton, and his brother Darren, 45, who moved from Bolton to the village of Isle of Whithorn in southern Galloway a few years ago, Christopher Davey, 51, from Northampton, and lawyer Benjamin Ogden, 27, from London, also perished.

The plane, belonging to Nepal’s domestic airline Sita Air, crashed at about 6.15am local time.

It was heading east towards Lukla, the gateway to Mount Everest and a popular destination for trekkers.

Five Chinese people, three Nepalese passengers and four crew members were also killed.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The pilot reported trouble two minutes after take-off, and Tribhuvan International Airport official Ratish Chandra Suman said the plane appeared to have been trying to turn back to the airport.

Witnesses said they heard screaming coming from inside the plane before it crashed into a field and said it was already on fire before it hit the ground.

Explore Worldwide, the company the victims were travelling through, said that a representative had arrived in Nepal to provide support to staff and other tour groups in the country.