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Summit Air Flight 802D

14 Apr 2019 · Lukla Airport, Nepal

Let L-410UVP-E20 and Manang Air Eurocopter AS 350 and 1 more aircraft · Ground collision

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Event

Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
Event fatalities
3 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
2
Occupants
Unknown
Survivors
2
InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
Unknown
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Airline

Aircraft 1 · Let L-410UVP-E20

Aircraft type
Let L-410
Category
Airplane · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
9N-AMH
Operator
Summit Air
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA)To Ramechhap Airport, Nepal

Aircraft 2 · Eurocopter AS 350

Aircraft type
Eurocopter AS-350
Category
Helicopter · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
9N-ALC
Operator
Manang Air
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded

Aircraft 3 · Eurocopter AS 350

Aircraft type
Eurocopter AS-350
Category
Helicopter · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
9N-ALK
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded

Cause areas

  • Personnel issues › Psychological
  • Personnel issues › Task performance
  • Not determined › Not determined

From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.

Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.

From the Wikipedia article

Summit Air Flight 802D (ICAO flight number: SMA802D) was a positioning flight that was to be operated on 14 April 2019 with a Let L-410 of Summit Air from Lukla Airport to Ramechhap Airport. During takeoff, a serious incident occurred when the aircraft veered off the runway and collided with two helicopters of the type Eurocopter AS 350. Three people lost their lives in the accident.

Sequence of the accident

On that day, a positioning flight to Ramechhap Airport was to be carried out with the Let L-410. The captain taxied the aircraft to the starting point of runway 24 and then handed the controls to the first officer. The takeoff run began at 09:07. After only three seconds, the aircraft veered to the right, where the heliport of Lukla Airport is located. The wing of the Let swept away two members of the security staff who were tasked with marshalling aircraft at the heliport. As the aircraft rolled onto the heliport, a main rotor blade of Manang Air's Eurocopter AS350 9N-ALC sliced through the cockpit of the Let, killing the first officer instantly. The aircraft then collided with the helicopter and both aircraft fell onto the lower level of the heliport, where Shree Airlines' Eurocopter AS350 9N-ALK was located. The first two aircraft were damaged beyond repair, the helicopter 9N-ALK only slightly. The first officer of the Let and two people on the ground were killed.

Investigation and cause

Cause

The cause of the accident was determined to be the Let veering to the right shortly after the start of the takeoff run, which was due to the fact that the right thrust lever had moved back to idle during takeoff. The thrust asymmetry had caused the aircraft to veer off. The cause of the incorrect thrust lever position could not be determined. The first officer's failure to recognise the thrust lever mispositioning and to respond to it accordingly was given as a contributing factor. As a result, the captain, who was monitoring the flight, was also left with insufficient time to intervene correctively. Furthermore, the captain's attempt to stop the swerve by increasing engine thrust did not achieve the desired result. The subsequent braking had, due to the pedal position, led to asymmetric braking, which further contributed to the aircraft's swerve.

Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Summit-Air-Flug 802D” (revision 258173329, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article

Sources

German Wikipedia article: Summit-Air-Flug 802D
Article
Summit-Air-Flug 802D
Translation
Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
Revision
258173329 · 2025-07-21 · retrieved 2026-09-19
Wikidata
Q108894660
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
Record
de Wikipedia article "Summit-Air-Flug 802D" (page 11952214, revision 258173329), translated into English with AI assistance
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
Wikipedia article coordinates
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
flight number in the article title
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
Ground fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: ground fatalities
Summary
Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.