Was Crying, Smoking, Suffered An 'Emotional Breakdown' During Flight

A draft report from an accident which occurred March 12 involving a US-Bangla Bombardier Q-400 indicates the pilot of the airplane was in "under stress and emotionally disturbed" and "suffered an emotional breakdown several times during the flight."

The aircraft impacted terrain during a landing attempt at Kathmandu airport. It skidded into a football field and burst into flames. Of the 71 people on board, 51 were fatally injured.

The Hindustan Times reports that the draft report was obtained by the French news service AFP. Investigators found that the a female co-worker had questioned Captain Abid Sultan's reputation as a good instructor. “This mistrust and stress led him to continuously smoke in the cockpit and also suffer an emotional breakdown several times during the flight,” the report says.

The flight had originated in Dhaka. During the short flight, Sultan, who had been a pilot for the Bangladesh Air Force and was an instructor for the airline, talked incessantly during the flight as he tried to convince the junior co-pilot of his competence for the job. As a result, co-pilot Prithula Rashid was making the approach but was in a state of "total disorientation" during the landing. She had only recently qualified in the airplane, and had never made the approach to Kathmandu airport. That approach is notoriously difficult.

Early reports suggested there was some confusion between the pilots and air traffic controllers. The draft report indicated that a controller referred to the runway both as "Runway 02" and "Runway 20", but investigators concluded that the mistake did not have a direct impact on the accident.

The authenticity of the draft report has been confirmed by an anonymous source at Nepal's Tourism Ministry, which led the investigation.

(Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: Source report