The draft copy of the final investigation report, as seen by AFP and reported on Channel NewsAsia, concludes the US-Bangla Airlines captain was “under stress and emotionally disturbed” after a female co-worker had “questioned his reputation as a good instructor”.
In March 2018, a flight from Dhaka, Bangladesh, crash-landed at Nepal’s Kathmandu airport, skidded into a nearby football field and burst into flames, thus killing 51 people. It was the deadliest aviation accident in the Himalayan nation for decades. Earlier this week, official investigation into the deadly plane crash revealed the main culprit: an emotionally distraught pilot.
The draft copy of the final investigation report, as seen by AFP and reported on Channel NewsAsia, concludes the US-Bangla Airlines captain was “under stress and emotionally disturbed” after a female co-worker had “questioned his reputation as a good instructor”.
The mistrust and stress, apparently, had led to him to continuously smoke in the cockpit and also to suffer an emotional breakdown several times during the flight. The captain even tried to impress upon the junior co-pilot his competence and proficiency. The captain’s monologue eventually led to the “total disorientation” of the co-pilot, who was flying the plane when it crashed. Neither the pilot nor the co-pilot survived.
Miraculously, 20 passengers escaped the burning wreckage, though many sustained serious injuries.