# Summit Air Flight 409 > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Summit_Air_Flight_409 > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Summit_Air_Flight_409.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Air_Flight_409 > Source revision: 1352788980 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 2017 aviation accident in Nepal Summit Air Flight 409 9N-AKY, the aircraft involved in the accident, pictured in 2016 Accident Date 27 May 2017 (2017-05-27) Summary Crashed short of runway in low visibility Site Near Lukla Airport, Lukla, Nepal 27°41′07″N 86°43′35″E / 27.68526°N 86.72646°E / 27.68526; 86.72646 Aircraft Aircraft type Let L-410UVP-E Operator Summit Air Registration 9N-AKY Flight origin Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal Destination Tenzing–Hillary Airport, Lukla, Nepal Occupants 3 Passengers 0 Crew 3 Fatalities 2 Injuries 1 Survivors 1 On 27 May 2017, a [Let L-410 Turbolet](/source/Let_L-410_Turbolet) operating as **Summit Air Flight 409** crashed short of the runway whilst attempting to land at [Tenzing–Hillary Airport](/source/Tenzing%E2%80%93Hillary_Airport) in Nepal. It was on final approach when the aircraft hit trees short of the runway and subsequently slid down a slope before coming to rest about 200 metres (656 ft) below runway level and 40 metres (131 ft) short of the runway. The captain and the first officer died as a result of the accident, while the cabin crew member received injuries and survived.[1] ## Accident At about 14:04 local time, the aircraft was on final approach to Runway 06 of Tenzing-Hillary Airport, on a routine flight from [Tribhuvan International Airport](/source/Tribhuvan_International_Airport), when it descended below the minimum safety altitude just off the runway and impacted with a tree and contacted ground three metres below the runway. It then slid over 200 meters down a ravine. CCTV footage released by the airport showed the aircraft dipping below the runway level and smoke rising from the wreckage. Witnesses stated that the weather conditions had been foggy, and that visibility was quite low. The airport does not possess any sort of navigational equipment, requiring pilots to land via visual approach.[2][1] The up-slope runway 06 is without any instrument approach guidance. At the time of the accident, local visibility was substantially reduced by ground fog. ## Aircraft The aircraft involved in the crash was a Let L-410, built in 2014 for [Goma Air](/source/Goma_Air), registration 9N-AKY. The aircraft was involved in a prior minor accident on 2 June 2015, where the flight from [Jomsom](/source/Jomsom) landed in Pokhara with the nose gear retracted. All 18 passengers on board were safe, but the aircraft suffered damage to its nose.[3] ## Victims The Captain, 48 year-old Parash Kumar Rai, had over 9000 flight hours logged, and since joining the airline, had flown over 1900 hours on L-410 aircraft. He died shortly after being pulled from the wreckage. The co-pilot, Shreejan Manandhar died at 21:30 local time in intensive care at Lukla Hospital. The cabin crew member survived the crash and was soon medically evacuated to Kathmandu for further treatment.[4] ## Investigation In December 2017, an investigation committee of the [Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal](/source/Civil_Aviation_Authority_of_Nepal) submitted its final report on the accident and concluded that "Very low visibility" was the cause of the accident. As the aircraft was flying through dense fog for several minutes before the approach, it missed the runway of Lukla Airport. The report furthermore revealed that both air traffic control of Lukla Airport (who did not close the airport despite the foggy weather) and the crew of Flight 409, who are also suspected to have been stressed and [fatigued](/source/Pilot_fatigue), had violated standard operating procedures. Lastly, the committee suggested that a runway extension of Lukla Airport should be considered, which would make the airport, where several accidents have occurred in the past, safer.[5] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) ["Accident: Summit L410 at Lukla on May 27th 2017, contacted trees and impacted ground before runway"](http://avherald.com/h?article=4a9877a9&opt=0). *avherald.com*. Retrieved 2017-06-21. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Goma Air LET L410 crashes in Nepal"](http://www.aviationanalysis.net/2017/05/goma-air-let-l410-crashes-in-nepal.html). *www.aviationanalysis.net*. Retrieved 2017-06-21. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["ASN Aircraft accident Let L-410UVP-E20 9N-AKY Lukla-Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA)"](https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20170527-0). *[Aviation Safety Network](/source/Aviation_Safety_Network)*. Retrieved 2017-06-21. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Bidding Final Farewell to Captain Rai"](http://www.aviationnepal.com/bidding-final-farewell-captain-rai/). *www.aviationnepal.com*. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-21. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Prasain, Sangam. ["Report: Goma Air crash due to 'very low' visibility"](http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-12-16/report-goma-air-crash-due-to-very-low-visibility.html). The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 17 December 2017. v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Nepal 1970s Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 hijacking (June 1973) Royal Nepal Airlines Pilatus PC-6 Porter crash (March 1975) 1990s Thai Airways International Flight 311 (July 1992) Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268 (September 1992) Everest Air Dornier 228 crash (July 1993) Hinduja Cargo Services Flight 8533 (July 1999) Necon Air Flight 128 (September 1999) Indian Airlines Flight 814 (December 1999) 2000s Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 crash (July 2000) Shangri-La Air DHC-6 crash (August 2002) Yeti Airlines DHC-6 crash (June 2006) Shree Air Mil Mi-8 crash (September 2006) Yeti Airlines Flight 101 (October 2008) 2010s Agni Air Flight 101 (August 2010) Tara Air DHC-6 crash (December 2010) Buddha Air Flight 103 (September 2011) Agni Air Flight CHT (May 2012) Sita Air Flight 601 (September 2012) Nepal Airlines Flight 555 (May 2013) Nepal Airlines Flight 183 (February 2014) Charikot helicopter crash (May 2015) Tara Air Flight 193 (24 February 2016) Air Kasthamandap PAC 750XL crash (26 February 2016) Goma Air Flight 409 (May 2017) US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 (March 2018) Air Dynasty helicopter crash (February 2019) 2020s Tara Air Flight 197 (May 2022) Yeti Airlines Flight 691 (January 2023) Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 crash (July 2024) v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 2017 (2017) Jan 16 Turkish Airlines Flight 6491 Feb 21 Essendon Airport Beechcraft King Air crash Mar 8 Ameristar Charters Flight 9363 Mar 10 Swan Aviation Sikorsky S-76 crash Mar 14 Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 crash Mar 28 Peruvian Airlines Flight 112 Apr 9 United Express passenger removal May 5 Air Cargo Carriers Flight 1260 May 15 Teterboro Learjet 35 crash May 27 Summit Air Flight 409 Jun 7 Myanmar Air Force Shaanxi Y-8 crash Jun 18 Ja'Din shootdown incident Jun 27 Caracas helicopter incident Jul 7 Air Canada Flight 759 Jul 10 US Marine Corps Lockheed KC-130 crash Jul 21 Thomson Airways Flight 1526 Aug 11 UAE Air Force UH-60M Black Hawk crash Sep 8 New Jersey helicopter crash Sep 30 Air France Flight 066 Oct 14 Valan International Cargo Charter Antonov An-26 crash Oct 26 Convers Avia Flight 312 Nov 15 Khabarovsk Airlines Flight 463 Dec 13 West Wind Aviation Flight 282 Dec 31 Nature Air Flight 144 Dec 31 Sydney Seaplanes DHC-2 crash 2016 ◄ ► 2018 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Summit Air Flight 409](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Air_Flight_409) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Air_Flight_409?action=history)). 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