What happened
On the morning of the accident, a twin-engine aircraft departed from Jomsom Airport at 09:41 local time. The flight was scheduled to proceed to Pokhara, with an estimated flight duration of 25 minutes. On board the aircraft were 15 passengers and 3 crew members.
As the flight approached its destination, the crew began a descent toward Pokhara Airport. During this phase of the flight, the aircraft encountered adverse weather characterized by low cloud cover. While flying at an altitude of 4,600 feet, the plane collided with a mountain slope situated approximately 6 km southwest of the airport, in the vicinity of the village of Kristi Nachnechaur.
The impact caused the total destruction of the aircraft. There was no post-crash fire reported at the scene. All 18 fatalities occurred as a result of the collision.
Findings
- The aircraft was operating in poor weather conditions involving low clouds during the descent phase.