Himalayan Airlines Flight 231 was a flight from Nipala Town’s Tribhuvan International Airport to Lukla’s Sir Tenzing-Hillary Airport. It crashed due to low fuel, and stalled at the last moment. All 8 occupants onboard died. It crashed just 15 meters away from Lukla Airport.
Aircraft
The aircraft was a twenty year old Cessna Caravan, previously operating for Beti Airlines and GECAS Aviation Testing. It was delivered to Himalayan Airlines in 2003 registered as 9N-AHA. The aircraft’s Himalayan Airlines markings were removed a week before the crash because the aircraft would be retired soon.
Incident
Prior to departure, the same exact aircraft had landed an hour ago from Jossom Airport. Since the aircraft carried so much fuel to/from Jossom, the flight crew for this flight decided that the fuel would be enough for this flight, and refuel at Lukla. However, due to the amount of fuel used on the Jossom flight earlier, the remaining fuel was enough for only half of the flight. This was a fatal mistake.
Loss of fuel
The co-pilot had noticed something off the fuel, but immediately realized they had no fuel. They made a mayday call exclaiming “Himalayan Peaks 231, no fuel available”. ATC had acknowledged it. The flight’s alternate airport was Paplu Airport, but they had already passed Paplu Airport, so Lukla was the only option. The flight was in a very mountainous region, so the captain panicked. The crew remained silent. Three minutes later, they crashed.