There have been 24 air crashes in Nepal in the past decade, on average two accidents per year, according to Aviation Safety Report 2016 unveiled by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) on Friday. 

A total of 167 people lost their lives in the accidents during the period 2006-15. According to the report, 134 people were killed in 11 crashes involving turbo-prop aircraft, and 33 people were killed in 13 helicopter accidents.

The report, the first ever publication by the aviation regulator, does not cover 2016. So far this year, 32 people have been killed in four plane crashes, making it one of the deadliest years in Nepal’s aviation history. 

A majority of the accidents involved turbo-prop planes with a capacity of 19 passengers or less that are particularly used to serve short takeoff and landing (STOL) airfields. There has been only one major mishap on trunk routes in the past 32 years, the report said. 

The report, which presents a brief overview of the updates on safety indicators, said that high risks are associated with flight operations—controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). There were five CFIT related accidents with 100 fatalities in the past 10 years. 

The report said that 42 percent of the accidents and 64 percent of the fatalities during the review period were CFIT related. CFIT refers to accidents in which an airworthy aircraft, under pilot control, unintentionally hits terrain.   

“It is apparent that that the challenges surrounding aircraft operations in Nepal are CFIT due to hostile topography, adverse weather patterns and unavailability of en-route weather information,” it said. 

Many airports in Nepal are situated in narrow valleys between high mountains or on ridges with elevations ranging from 8,000 feet to 10,000 feet. “So flying to these airfields in such a hostile environment is very challenging. It is difficult even for the most skilled pilots to fly free of challenges. Air transport is indispensible for people living in mountainous regions.” 

Among the 33 airports in operation in Nepal, 23 are STOL airfields. The report said that a majority of accidents involved Dornier and Twin Otter aircraft. 

Helicopters are mostly operated on high altitude rescue missions and logistic transportation for trekking and mountaineering expeditions. “Apparently, the risk associated with such operations is comparatively high.” Among the 13 accidents involving helicopters, six were fatal. 

Caan’s report also reveals a sudden increase in the number of accidents and fatalities involving helicopters in 2015. “In contrast to world accident trends, the number of accidents related to runway safety was the lowest—three accidents with zero fatalities,” the report said. 

The number of air crashes related to loss of control was the highest after CFIT. There were four such accidents with 57 fatalities. The International Civil Aviation Organization has classified high risk accidents into three categories—runway safety, loss of control and CFIT. 

Caan said that it had adopted a number of safety measures to reduce accidents. “We have introduced stringent requirements for personnel licensing for high altitude operations,” said Rajan Pokhrel, deputy director general of Caan. He added that Caan had introduced strict regulations against visual flight rule (VFR) violations. 

The incidents of the last 10 years show that they occurred while the pilot was operating the aircraft under VFR.

VFR is a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to see where it is going.