Buddha Air Flight 103

On 25 September 2011, Buddha Air Flight 103, a Beechcraft 1900D commuter aircraft, crashed near Lalitpur, Nepal, while attempting to land in poor weather at nearby Kathmandu Airport. All 19 passengers and crew on board were killed. The aircraft, operated by Buddha Air, was on a sightseeing flight to Mount Everest.^[1][2][3]

Buddha Air Flight 103

Gear and empennage at the crash site
Accident
Date	25 September 2011
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	Kotdanda, Lalitpur, Nepal 27°37′31″N 85°22′28″E
Aircraft
9N-AEK, the aircraft involved
Aircraft type	Beechcraft 1900D
Operator	Buddha Air
Call sign	BUDDHA AIR 103
Registration	9N-AEK
Flight origin	Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal
Destination	Tribhuvan International Airport
Occupants	19
Passengers	16
Crew	3
Fatalities	19 (initially 18)
Survivors	0 (initially 1)

Aircraft

The aircraft was a 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D twin-engine turboprop airliner; it was thirteen years old and registered in Nepal as 9N-AEK. Initial investigations revealed that the aircraft was being operated under VFR (Visual Flight Rules); and two minutes before it was due to land it entered clouds and crashed at 5400 feet. Air traffic controllers and members of the investigation team claim the reason for the crash was pilot error.

Passengers

The sixteen passengers included ten Indian nationals, one Japanese, two Americans and three Nepalese.^[4]