Captain of BS211 Found to be “Extremely Upset” Prior to Crash

Wreckage of an airplane is pictured as rescue workers operate at Kathmandu airport, Nepal March 12, 2018. REUTERS/ Navesh Chitrakar

A report by Nepali officials has found that Abid Sultan, pilot of US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 – which crashed at KTM in spring – was noted to be in emotional distress at the time of the incident. 51 people were killed in the crash, which was Nepal’s deadliest aviation accident in nearly 30 years.

An “extremely upset” pilot has been blamed for causing Nepal’s deadliest aviation incident in nearly three decades, Reuters reports. An investigation by Nepali authorities found that Abid Sultan, the captain of US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211, which crashed at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM) back in March, was found to be in deep emotional distress at the time of the accident.

The plane, a Bombardier Dash 8, was inbound from the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka when it crashed and erupted into flame. Out of 71 persons on board, 51 were killed in the incident.

Sections of an initial draft report of the incident, as viewed by Reuters earlier this week, indicate that Sultan became distressed when a colleague queried his status as an instructor with the carrier.

Prior to working with US-Bangla Airlines, Sultan had served in the Bangladeshi air force as a pilot.

According to the outlet, it was observed in the report that, “He [Sultan] was very much under stress due to this particular issue. This mistrust and stress led him to continuously smoke in the cockpit and also suffer an emotional breakdown several times during the flight.”

The report also noted that the plane’s first officer attempted to calm Sultan during the course of the flight.

Upon his approach to KTM, Sultan ignored instructions from the airport’s controllers, a move which ultimately contributed to the deadly incident.

However, officials with the carrier have protested that the draft of the report was “illegally leaked”. Imran Asif, CEO of US-Bangla Airlines, was quoted by the outlet as saying, “The official report has not been published or released. I don’t know what evidence they are talking about.”

Abid was among those killed during the incident.

[Photo: Reuters]