PILOT ERROR SUSPECTED CAUSE OF NEPAL PLANE CRASH

A plane crash which claimed the lives of 19 people in Nepal could have been caused by “pilot failure”, authorities have said.

Four people from the north west who were among seven Britons killed when the flight went down near the capital of Kathmandu on Friday morning.

Suresh Acharya of Nepal`s aviation ministry told AFP news service today (Saturday): “The pilot`s failure to maintain the required radius is a likely cause of the accident.”

Mr Acharya added that the plane turned too sharply because it had not gained enough altitude and said: “A plane crash does not occur simply just because its engine was hit by a bird.”

Among the victims were Raymond Eagle, 58, from Macclesfield, Timothy Oakes, 57, from Warrington, and brothers Vincent and Darren Kelly, aged 50 and 45, from Lostock, near Bolton.

Nepalese police said the Britons were killed along with five Chinese people, as well as three passengers and four crew members from the Himalayan country.

The twin-engine propeller plane crashed shortly after take-off.

Source: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1590029_cause-of-nepal-plane-crash-that-killed-four-north-west-men-could-be-pilot-failure