Probe committee formed to study on aviation sector

KATHMANDU: The government has formed a probe committee to make the country’s aviation sector further improved, secured and effective.

A meeting presided over by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, also the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, on Wednesday formed a five-member committee under the coordination of Tourism Ministry’s joint-secretary Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane.

Other members included in the committee are former director of Civil Aviation Authority Nepal (CAAN), Bhesh Raj Subedi, senior captain Krishna Bahadur Poudel and under-secretary of Tourism Ministry Pramod Nepal. CAAN manager Laxman Devkota has been designated as a member-secretary, stated a press release issued by Tourism Ministry’s Spokesperson Taranath Adhikari.

The committee was formed to take stock of physical, mechanical and other conditions of airplanes and helicopters of airlines companies operating domestic flights in Nepal.

The committee has been given a timeline of three months to submit an investigative report on the physical and mechanical status of planes operational in Nepal. The committee will also audit all aircrafts operating domestic and external flights in the sky of Nepal. It has also the mandate to review the test report of the CAAN as to whether the aviation company follows the approved standards of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The committee is also entrusted to examine whether the criteria related to the aircraft crew members have been met. It would furnish recommendations for improving aviation safety after studying the measures the CAAN should comply with.

Last Monday, an aircraft of Buddha air with 70 passengers onboard from Kathmandu to Biratnagar returned back to in Kathmandu after failing to land in Biratnagar due to a technical snag.