An accident investigation into the deadly plane crash in Nepal has blamed the ’emotionally disturbed’ pilot as a major factor.
The March 12 flight from Dhaka crashed at Kathmandu airport and burst into flames, killing 51 people.
The AFP reports the investigation found the US-Bangla Airlines captain was ‘under stress and emotionally disturbed’.
This came about after a co-worker questioned his 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," according to a draft of the final accident report.
Captain Abid Sultan was ‘crying on several occasions during the flight’.
This caused the inexperienced co-pilot, who was at the controls, to be ‘disorientated,’ it said.
The plane made a last-minute directional change, did not reduce its speed enough and failed to carry out the required landing checks, investigators concluded.
Both pilots were among the dead.
It was the deadliest commercial air accident in the country for more than 25 years.
