Kathmandu, March 11: An incident involving a plane of Nepal Airlines at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, China has reportedly been kept quiet, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Chinese sources said the airline’s RNA418 flight, an Airbus A320 aircraft, collided with another plane or ground mishap occurred while being taxied toward the runway for departure.
While Nepal Airlines reportedly treated the incident as minor, Chinese aviation authority, Civil Aviation Department (CAAC), have described it as a serious breach of safety protocols and negligence.
The aircraft was preparing to depart from Guangzhou for Kathmandu on February 7 when the collision occurred. Senior Captain Uddhav Ghimire is said to have violated airport safety procedures during the pre-flight preparations.
Following the incident, China’s CAAC repeatedly asked Nepal Airlines officials to appear in Guangzhou and clarify the circumstances surrounding the event. According to sources, the Chinese side also sent a formal request seeking the flight operation details related to a navigation error observed in the take-off area.
A senior official at Nepal Airlines said the Chinese authorities had also asked for information about the visibility conditions at the time of the incident, communication procedures, runway surface conditions, and other environmental factors at the time, as well as the pilot’s decision-making process.
Although Nepal Airlines was asked to provide the information within a week, the airline reportedly failed to submit the details. Sources claim officials from the airline’s operations and safety departments declined to attend a meeting scheduled for March 10, citing their involvement in activities related to the elections in Nepal.
Subsequently, on March 9, the Chinese side issued a four-point warning, describing Nepal Airlines’ inaction as unacceptable and urging its officials to attend a meeting in Guangzhou.
Sources also claim that Captain Ghimire had previously been involved in several safety-related incidents and had faced disciplinary action from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal for violating safety protocols.
However, spokesperson Bikram Raj Gautam of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Nepal’s civil aviation regulatory body, said the authority had not yet received formal information or request about the incident.
“This is a matter between two companies—Nepal Airlines and the Chinese side—and the concerned pilot. Since we have not received formal information, we are trying to understand what exactly happened at Guanzhou,” Gautam told newspolar.com online.
He added that sometimes airlines may not immediately report such incidents if there are commitments regarding non-punitive actions. “A decision will be taken only after we receive full details of the incident,” he said.
Aviation experts say it is generally rare for a foreign civil aviation authority to formally raise safety concerns with an airline, and such actions are usually taken only when serious safety lapses are suspected. #NEPAL #flight
