Planes can be old but not worn out, experts argue

Along with Yeti Air’s plane crash a week back in Pokhara, the voices of general public and media are being intense that the air travel is being unsafe due to old planes in Nepal. However, the experts argue that planes can be old but not worn out.

In the midst of growing concern on the plane’s life among media and public recently, Buddha Air organized an interaction Sunday and shared information about the age and functions of the plane.

Flight operation director at Buddha Air, Subarna Kharel, informed the journalists about various systems of air flight and the journalists reporting on tourism and aviation attended the programme.

Managing Director of Buddha Air, Birendra Bahadur Basnet, expressed worry over continuous dissemination of news in the international media that Nepal’s air service is not safe.

“Plane can be old in terms of registration, but it cannot be worn out. Air accidents are not related to plane’s life. It is wrong to say that a plane is overused because the parts of a plane are checked and repaired frequently”, according to Mangesh Thapa, Technical Director at Buddha Air. He further stated that the plane is regularly repaired and kept in airworthy state. When it is time, engine and cycle are changed, he added.

Thapa informed that plane is repaired based on the flight hours and its cycle. One take-off is called a cycle for a plane. So far an ATR plane is concerned, it is stopped flying as a rule when it completes 70 thousand cycles.

Even though the plane has good parts with 70,000 cycles, it is not allowed to fly, according to the experts.