The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has directed Sri Airlines to conduct a comprehensive study of all aircraft within one week after technical issues occur repeatedly. The authority has provided a strict warning that it will ground all of its aircraft if the study report is not satisfactory. This instruction has come after there was an issue in the aircraft of Shree that landed in Dhangadhi from Kathmandu on Monday.
Jagannath Niroula said they have directed to conduct a detailed study by prioritizing passenger safety. “We have directed to conduct a study by keeping passenger safety in mind,” he told. The authority had grounded two engineers of Shree when this problem was observed following the incident.
Ganesh Chandra Singh, chief of the Dhangadhi airport cleared that there where 76 passengers in the Q-400 Dash 8 series aircraft of the company that flew from Kathmandu to Dhangadhi on Monday night, informed. After not finding it technically unfit during the inspection on Tuesday morning, the aircraft has been grounded in Dhangadhi Airport.
The authority formed a committee led by Prabhakar Chand Mallik, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Security Department, to conduct a study and directed to ground the aircraft based on the committee’s recommendation for a detailed study.
After finding serious lapses in safety during the study, it was advised to immediately ground all of Shree’s aircraft. However, the leadership of the authority suggested going for a detailed study rather than immediately grounding the aircraft.
Earlier, technical issues had been seen on February 3 as well with Shree Airlines aircraft. After technical issues during the Surkhet-Kathmandu flight, the aircraft made an emergency landing in Kathmandu.
After technical issues on the aircraft, another aircraft was arranged to bring the passengers to Kathmandu on Monday. The European Union (EU) had also pointed out errors in Shree Airlines’ security management system and flight operation policy during a technical examination conducted last Bhadra. Shree Airlines currently operates 8 aircraft including CRJ and Dash.
