What happened
On 24 February 2016, an aircraft was conducting a VFR flight toward Jomsom. Prior to departure from Pokhara, the crew noted unfavorable weather conditions, including limited visibility and haze. During the flight, the crew encountered cloud layers and made several decisions regarding altitude and flight path to maintain visual contact with the terrain.
While passing through the Ghorepani area, the aircraft was at approximately 11,500 ft when EGPWS terrain alerts and pull-up warnings were triggered. The captain subsequently instructed a descent to 10,000 ft. During this descent, the aircraft experienced an overspeed warning as it reached 152 knots. As the crew continued to maneuver through the clouds, the aircraft's bank angle increased significantly, reaching 130 degrees during a right turn.
Despite continuous pull-up warnings from the EGPWS, the aircraft continued a shallow descent and erratic maneuvering. The flight path deviated from the intended track, and the aircraft reached a minimum altitude of approximately 9,850 ft before attempting a climb. The final recorded data shows the aircraft at 10,700 ft with a nose-up pitch attitude while the terrain warnings remained active.
Findings
Investigation into the accident identified that the crew's decision to enter cloud layers during VFR flight was the primary cause of the accident. This action led to a loss of situational awareness and spatial disorientation, resulting in a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accident.
Additional contributing factors included:
- Deteriorating weather conditions throughout the flight
- A loss of situational awareness regarding the aircraft's position relative to the track
- Skill-based errors by the crew during critical phases of flight
- Ineffective use of cockpit resources (CRM)
- Insensitivity to EGPWS terrain and pull-up warnings