Nepal bans Air-India pilots indefinitely after incident at Holding Zone

Kathmandu: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has suspended the pilot crew of Air India after an incident at the holding zone that occurred on Friday.

The Air India aircraft on Friday had descended to 3,700 feet from 19,000 feet while it was being held up over the sky of Simara in Nepal.

"Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) of Tribhuvan International Airport involved in a traffic conflict incident (between Air India and Nepal Airlines on 24th March 2023) have been removed from active control position until further notice," the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal tweeted.

The CAAN has decided to ban the Air India pilots in the incidents and has written to DGCA-India, the CAAN announced.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has written to the Indian Commission in this regard about the decision.

The CAAN also questioned the crew over the incident on the same day 23 March after landing at Kathmandu. The pilot-in-command also accepted their mistake and apologized for it.

Along with the pilots, the 3 Air Traffic Controllers, who were on duty at Kathmandu tower also have been grounded.

The aircraft of Air India had descended to 15 thousand 3 hundred feet from 19 thousand feet while it was being holed up at Simara of Nepal. At the time the Nepal Airlines aircraft was flying low and had to retract its height after the Indian Airlines descended.