NATIONAL 1 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Growing Threat

Even as the number of aircrashes rises steadily, the government still carries on its lip service to tighten the screw

By A CORRESPONDENT

It's become an overshadowed event. At a time when the national and international spotlight has been on the hijack drama of India

n Airlines IC 814, the crash of a twin otter of Skyline aircraft has been forced to maintain low profile.

The 9N-AFL scheduled domestic flight from Simara was on its way last Saturday when it crashed against the peak of Burja Lek at Sukara Village Development Committee in Makwanpur District nearby the southern border of Lalitpur District.

According to Tribhuvan International Airport officials, the ill-fated aircraft had reported 27 DME (Distance Measurement Equipment, which means 27 nautical miles) to the TIA tower.

All ten persons -- seven passengers and three crew members --died in the crash adding yet another tragic chapter in the history of Nepal's civil aviation -- that has earned wider criticism in the last two years.

This year alone, three fatal aircrashes have taken place. First it was a cargo carrier of Lufthansa that crashed against the Bhasmashur Hill in the south of the Valley. Few months after that, an avro of Necon Air hit a Nepal Telecommunication tower atop a hill in the east of the valley before it crashed and killed all those onboard.

In 1998, the picture was no good either. Three aircrashes took place last year as well while 1997 was dominated by incidents of aircraft's force-landing and other technical snags. Just what is going on?

Many factors are responsible for such accidents, observers closely monitoring the poor records in the country's civil aviation say. While the number of air crashes are steadily on the rise, all that the government has been doing is to declare the formation of fact finding commissions. Reports are submitted and the documents gather dust in the ministries' filing-cabinet. And that is that.

The first reason behind the degrading safety in Nepalese skies, informed sources claim, is the practice of providing operating license to every Tom, Dick and Harry. "Even if you don't have even two million Rupees in your pocket, you can begin an airlines company," says Tek Chandra Pokhrel, a veteran tourism entrepreneur who is also a member of the National Tourism Council. "In such circumstances, how can you expect to have air safety?"

Almost one and a half dozen airlines are already operating while another one more dozen is in the pipeline to get the Aircraft Operating License.

As the number of airline operators is on the rise, growing number of junk aircraft have begun to buzz the Nepalese skies. Knowledgeable sources say, most of the operators are going for outdated aircraft like avro and twin otters whose manufacturing has already been stopped.

"The rampant practice of leasing any type of aircraft is also another reason behind the deteriorating quality," says Birendra Bahadur Basnet who runs Buddha Airways. How? "Because when you go for lease, you have an easy going attitude with the business since you can return the aircraft to the supplier any time you want."

That is the reason, says Basnet, why the government should give priority to those suppliers who lease-purchase aircraft.

Others suggest that the government should make the operators bring in only those aircrafts whose manufacturers are still doing business. "When you lease or lease-purchase aircraft from the company which still manufactures the aircraft, the advantage is that the lease agreement can include the engine maintenance program to be provided by the manufacturers themselves," they say. "This package is important since we do not tend to conduct vigorous monitoring here."

No other than the government reports suggest that there have been monitoring and regulating lapses. Here is what a fact finding commission, formed to probe Necon Air's Cessna Caravan 9N-ADA crash in Jumla last year, found: After the ill-fated aircraft caught fire, it could not be extinguished as the fire fighting equipment or aid was not available at the site.

The commission had one more important finding: There was a mobile extinguisher in Jumla Tower but in packed condition.

With lapses like this, air-safety in Nepalese skies definitely remains elusive.