An ATR 72 aircraft of the leading domestic carrier Buddha Air registered ‘9N-AOC’ has sustained a significant damage in its structure after hitting a pole in the ramp while the aircraft was taxiing for the parking. The aircraft was on power with both the engines running while the incident occurred yesterday afternoon.
The wing on the right hand side collided with the pole near the edge of Ramp on the Eastern side of the parking. Due to the collision the navigation lights on the wing and the wing tip have suffered substantial damage. No person on board and on the ground have been harmed during the incident.
The aircraft has been pulled to Buddha Air’s Hangar for inspection and required maintenance. The aircraft will take a while to come back in the air again and it is yet to see is the world class hangar and maintenance capability of Buddha Air can fix the damages occurred.
Because of the construction works going around the Northwestern and Eastern side of the airfield pilots now need to exercise caution while operating their aircraft on ground. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) need to monitor and do the necessary to prevent any incident like this because of ongoing construction of the airfield that can pose threat to the aircraft.
