FlyDubai’s two senior managers at Kathmandu Airport (KTM) have been banned from entering the airport, as they’re accused of making misleading claims… this is beyond strange.
In this post:
FlyDubai Boeing 737 suffers engine issues departing Kathmandu
This incident happened on Monday, April 24, 2023, and involves FlyDubai’s flight FZ576 from Kathmandu, Nepal (KTM), to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB). The 1,861-mile flight was operated by a roughly 10-year-old Boeing 737-800 with the registration code A6-FED.
Shortly after departure, an engine incident happened with the aircraft, as there were streaks of flames coming from one of the engines. Video from the ground shows this, while video from inside the cabin shows bright lights, and you can also hear banging noises.
Following the incident, the aircraft entered a holding pattern near Kathmandu… and then eventually the decision was made for the plane to continue to Dubai. It landed there safely 4hr37min after departure, so the flight was only around 10-20 minutes longer than usual. At the time, FlyDubai reported that this incident was due to a bird strike, but that it wasn’t serious enough to require a diversion.
The reason this flight initially got some media coverage is because there were questions about why the pilots would choose to continue to fly back to Dubai when an incident like that happened. I didn’t write about it at the time because bird strikes are common, and there was also no reason to believe that the pilots weren’t making the right decision or following procedures.
Presumably the pilots chose to enter a holding pattern, ran through some checklists, and then made the decision to continue after considering all factors.
This is where the story gets interesting…
Nepal bans FlyDubai managers from airport
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has announced that it has banned FlyDubai’s two senior managers in the country from Kathmandu Airport. Specifically, the country manager and airport manager for FlyDubai have been banned from entering the airport, and their security clearance has also been deactivated.
The reason? Well, the CAAN accuses the managers of spreading “misleading news that there was a bird strike,” claiming that there was instead an engine fire.
This is utterly bizarre. Is the CAAN essentially viewing this as a point of pride, and suggesting that there’s no way that birds could get in the way of any aircraft operating to or from Kathmandu Airport, or what?
Simon from The Aviation Herald is very knowledgable about aircraft safety incidents, and adds the following editorial note to his coverage of this:
How on earth can an engine on fire and damaged by fire produce sufficient thrust to permit the aircraft to climb to FL340 – this CAAN claim is thus beyond belief and raises questions about the competence of the CAAN.
If there was a bird strike, it’s conceivable that it didn’t cause any damage, and after running through checklists, the right decision was to continue. Meanwhile to claim that there was an engine fire, and that the plane still climbed to altitude and flew for hours, seems much less likely.
Furthermore, the aircraft has been in service continuously since the incident, suggesting there was no serious damage.
I’m not sure why the CAAN is trying to dig itself into a hole here for no reason. Even the best managed airspace has bird strikes sometimes. So Nepal is punishing FlyDubai for “spreading misinformation,” all while the CAAN now spreads misinformation about the incident as well. Oy.
Bottom line
A FlyDubai Boeing 737 had an engine incident while departing Kathmandu Airport on Monday. Specifically, some streaks of flames were seen coming from one of the engines on departure, causing the aircraft to enter a holding pattern, before eventually continuing to Dubai.
FlyDubai claimed that there was a bird strike on departure. Nepal’s aviation authority isn’t happy with this claim, calling it “misleading,” and arguing that there was in fact an engine fire. As a result of this “misinformation,” FlyDubai’s two managers have been banned from the airport.
I’m curious to see how this continues to play out…
What do you make of this situation between FlyDubai and the CAAN?
As a retired airline Captain, Instructor and evaluator with over 6000 hrs on the same type of aircraft. I must say, that after understanding that FlyDubai admitted to a bird strike, in my opinion it is an enormous irresponsible decision of the captain of this flight to continue to his destination. Damage to fan blades by a birdstrike do not necessarily show up immediately, but the blade(s) can break at a later time and destroy...
As a retired airline Captain, Instructor and evaluator with over 6000 hrs on the same type of aircraft. I must say, that after understanding that FlyDubai admitted to a bird strike, in my opinion it is an enormous irresponsible decision of the captain of this flight to continue to his destination. Damage to fan blades by a birdstrike do not necessarily show up immediately, but the blade(s) can break at a later time and destroy the engine and causing an uncontrollable engine fire endangering the lives of all occupants. Utterly and completely irresponsible decision by the Captain. But that may be made after consulting by radio with his company. And that would not be the first time crew was ordered to make highly passenger lives endangering decision. Crew should Ne grounded and an objective investigation started by an independent entity. Unfortunately the Civil Aviation Authority of Dubai is not known for objectivity and has a tendency to wipe this kind of stuff under the table. Bad stuff if the story is true, and of course Katmandu should take action to prevent this kind of cowboy mentality by airlines serving their airport.
Absolutely, the flight should be put to ground at nearest airport and fire cause investigated. The decision of the crew to continue flying to destination a few hours away was wrong.
As a retire airline captain it surprises me you make such comments. As we professional pilots always say; you were not there seated in the flight deck, very easy to make judgements behind a keyboard. Have you ever flown into KTM ? Have you got any idea what is to have a engine surge on departure with a MSA of 20800FT ? No you don’t. Every pilot is required to do a special simulator in...
As a retire airline captain it surprises me you make such comments. As we professional pilots always say; you were not there seated in the flight deck, very easy to make judgements behind a keyboard. Have you ever flown into KTM ? Have you got any idea what is to have a engine surge on departure with a MSA of 20800FT ? No you don’t. Every pilot is required to do a special simulator in order to operate in KTM. Would you land back there single engine and heavy at an elevation of 4313’ ?
I suggest you enjoy your retirement and leave the investigation to the specialists.
That's what happen you give a certain entity with full authoritarian powers, judge, jury, executioner style with no checks and balance.
I've lately seen lots of example who would be a good fit at CAAN.
While CAAN are not covering themselves in glory with their petty vindictiveness, they are correct that the flyDubai managers should not be making public statements without notifying the investigative authorities first.
An incident occured in Nepali airspace and an emergency was declared. That makes the Nepali authorities the lead agency for any investigation into that incident (an investigation is not mandatory for an event classified as an incident but may be conducted if the authority...
While CAAN are not covering themselves in glory with their petty vindictiveness, they are correct that the flyDubai managers should not be making public statements without notifying the investigative authorities first.
An incident occured in Nepali airspace and an emergency was declared. That makes the Nepali authorities the lead agency for any investigation into that incident (an investigation is not mandatory for an event classified as an incident but may be conducted if the authority deems it necessary). CAAN has launched an investigation and therefore they should have access to all the relevant facts directly from the operator and other stakeholders, and not via the media.
I read some of the original statements by CAAN and the translations are more along the lines of "we have not found evidence of a bird strike" rather than "there was no bird strike". An investigation cannot conclude something happened without evidence to support it. Certainly, the chain of events could be consistent with a bird strike (but could also be consistent with other causes), but absent evidence to support that conclusion it should not be presented as fact.
Accident investigations are thorough processes and there is always pressure to provide answers before conclusive answers are ready to present. Making public statements outside the context of the completed investigation is counterproductive. Neither flyDubai nor CAAN come off well as a result.
Calling them pathetic is a bit too much. I feel like there is a lot more into the story given how ME carriers behave/treat locals in Kathmandu. More or less the same how you are treating them in this article...
Looks like a compressor surge to me; could be easily caused by a bird strike. If the engine came back into limits after reducing power and was thereafter operating normally there would be no reason to discontinue the flight.
CAAN is certainly tilting at windmills.
Lol
I just came here to OMAAT and saw that this was published a minute ago. I was so surprised because I know you are an early sleeper and early riser. I was like "WTF, why is he up at 1am?". Then I remembered you were in Abu Dhabi...
@ JB -- Hahaha, indeed! Though frankly with my schedule in the US nowadays, 1AM isn't that far off from when I usually wake up. But I don't usually publish anything at that hour, because I realize I'm one of the few people strange enough to regularly wake up before 4AM.
I go to sleep around 12-1am...