A senior aviation official has said that the tragic air plane crash that occurred Tuesday morning, which killed all 14 aboard, could have been averted had the air line operator (Agni Air) taken note of the bad weather in Kathmandu and across the country from the past few days due to the monsoon season. He said that the weather was not at all appropriate to operate flights today. The aviation official, K.B Limbu, who is the General Manager of national flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), further said that although the bad weather could have been one of the leading causes that contributed to the crash, there could very well be other reasons behind the tragedy which will be known after the probe committee formed to investigate the crash comes up with its report. In an interview with a local television news channel this afternoon, he also said that the domestic airline companies are sometime pressured by the passengers to operate the flight even during bad weather. Limbu, however, also admitted that a developing country like Nepal may not always have a very effective monitoring mechanism to check if the domestic airline companies operating flights to various parts of the country are taking all the necessary safety precaution to avert this kind of tragedy. From the past one week, a thick cloud of mist has shrouded Lukla airport, the gate-way to the Everest region and home to world's tallest peak Mt. Everest. Flights to the remote mountainous region had been cancelled or delayed many times in the past few weeks because of bad weather which is common during monsoon season.
Weather experts also confirm that the weather was not suitable for flights today.