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8,034 posts
291 reviews
275 helpful votes I took Tara last April from Pokhara to Jomsom and return. I didnt have any problems. I know that nepali airlines have to improve their safety program, and this is a rule that they have ro respect to have the permission to fly according with the international organism of control of the airlines company.
In generel air safety in Nepal isn't very good. You can see statistics here:
http://aviation-safety.net/database/country/country.php?id=9N
But to get a clear Picture, you need to check out which year each Company is founded, how many flights they have etc.
I have mainly used Yeti and Buddha.
Tara air is the substitute airlines of Yeti airlines and they are operating flights for the mountainous region. Its safe and yes, only the option to fly to Lukla. Whole safety mechanism is a bit poor comparing to develop country but they are doing great job by doing such a difficult flight every day!
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7,014 posts
39 reviews
28 helpful votes Good info already posted
The reality is that unless you are prepared to trek for another 2 full weeks and walk in and out from road heads like Jiri or Tumlingtar then you have no other option but to fly into and out of Lukla
But of the thousands of flights that do the round trip every year, statistically the chances are well in your favour that you will be OK – I have flown out of Lukla twice and am hear to tell the tale and wouldn’t have any qualms about flying in / out again ;-)
With regard to the above post, as far as I am aware, Tara Airlines was formed years ago after Yeti Airlines had a crash at Lukla – They basically split the company creating a new subsidiary and called it Tara so that people flying with them wouldn’t associate the New Tara name with the Yeti Lukla crash
Also, as far as I am aware, Agni Air, the only other scheduled airline flying into Lukla is still grounded, maybe the above poster can confirm / update us on the Agni Air situation, the story doing the rounds was that it was some kind of tax problem that had caused all their planes to be grounded ??
Thanks and Best Regards
Rob
As a pilot let me say you this about air travel safety in Nepal and in mostly underdeveloped/poor countries in general
When you cross int'l borders worldwide airlines loosely follow FAA guidelines for airworthiness of the crew and equipment they are flying.
But when operating within its own borders the rules and regulations are only as good as what their country sets forth and (if at all) enforces.
And in most of the poor countries around the world like any another public service sector, civil aviation is no better run
So in that sense Nepal is not unique
While 70 crashes in 50 years of aviation history in Nepal (per some online statistics) may sound like a lot - it still would be well below .001%. Your risk of driving to grocery store is far greater.
What are the factors in air crashes in Nepal you ask – in my opinion - there four main ones as far I see – (Again these are my opinions based on my observations – so don’t pin me for any stats)
1 – Terrain (and also weather because of it) - no need to explain this one considering it’s Nepal we’re talking
2 - Training - good pilots with lots of flying hours left to work in India and elsewhere for better pay and to serve exploding aviation sector - so what you have is a fresh new batch (heck - even in India a while back they caught pilots flying the big jets with shockingly low cockpit time)
3 - Equipment (as in aircrafts and maintenance) - for this the overall economical landscape needs to be better for an investor to put newer aircrafts and skilled and properly trained and equipped maintenance crew etc. When the buying power of the sector you are doing business is poor what you have is the bare minimum – that is get them birds in the air somehow. Actually that can also be said about the aviation industry of most developed countries ( with USA and few other countries – an exception) now-a-days with rising fuel process and dwindling profits.
4 - Last one - that no one talks about is (for lack of a better term) the “mindset of the pilots”
what I mean by that is there are no regulations barring these young pilot “dudes and dudettes” partying late into the night before and dashing to the airport to do the early morning flights half hung-over, where their judgment may not be fully acute to make critical decisions in emergencies.
Tara Air has been flying to Lukla since 1998 (previously as Yeti Airlines). During the trekking season they do an enormous amount of flights e.g. October, November 2012 they did more than 1200 flights to Lukla from Kathmandu. They have had two accidents since 1998, both blamed on pilot error. Considering the challenging terrain and the number of flights they've done their record is pretty good for any airline in the world. Considering the statistics I've calculated the odds of your being involved in an accident in a Tara Air Lukla flight as less than 0.01%. Better than driving car !
Rob, the owners of Agni Air have serious financial problems. Aircraft spares parts are expensive. :(
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