Passengers bound for Nepal's Janakpur were in for a surprise after they ended up in Pokhara, 255 kilometres away from the actual destination, after a rare flight mix-up by a leading private carrier, according to a media report on Sunday.
The incident happened on Friday when 69 passengers travelling on Buddha Air landed in Pokhara, The Kathmandu Post reported.
The weather was not quite favourable for flights on Friday so carriers were making use of every available weather window to fly the passengers as quickly as possible, the report said.
Buddha Air바카라s flight U4505 was cleared to take off for Janakpur airport in the plains. Passengers were taken in and the plane took off, with its estimated arrival time at Janakpur by 3:15 pm.
When it took off, it had already been delayed. But when it landed, it actually landed in Pokhara instead of the destination airport.
According to the preliminary report, due to weather issues, flights to Pokhara were permitted until 3 pm under the visual flight rules (VFR).
The VFR is a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going.
바카라The weather was already causing flight delays and to make up for the flying time, Buddha Air officials decided to fly to Pokhara first,바카라 said an official at the airline company.
Accordingly, the flight number was changed and the mix-up happened.
Buddha Air admitted to serious lapses on its side, the report said. Birendra Bahadur Basnet, Managing Director of the carrier, told the Post that they have formed a committee to investigate the incident.
바카라The difference in flight schedule between Janakpur and Pokhara was 15 to 20 minutes,바카라 said an official.
바카라The ground staff transferred [on paper] 69 passengers of flight U4505 to flight U4607 which actually was cleared for Pokhara by the air traffic controllers,바카라 said the official.
Everything was in the right order but the ground staff and the flight attendant failed to brief the flight바카라s captain and co-pilot that the flight바카라s number had been changed, according to the official.
바카라The flight attendant did make an announcement on the flight that it was heading to Janakpur,바카라 said the official.
바카라There was a miscommunication between the ground staff and the pilots,바카라 said the official. 바카라The flying pilots also did not look at the passengers바카라 manifest.바카라
Aviation experts say such incidents may happen, but they happen quite rarely.
Tri Ratna Manandhar, a former director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, said this is the second incident of such kind in Nepal바카라s aviation history in the last two and a half-decades.
In 1993, a Twin Otter of the Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation had landed in Simara airport which was supposed to land in Bharatpur airport.
바카라The Buddha Air incident happened due to miscommunication. It바카라s not part of safety lapses but it바카라s a serious lapse on the part of management,바카라 said Manandhar.
