Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kathmandu Nepal
Wednesday, July 7, 1999 19:51 UTC
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 7, 1999, Lufthansa Flight 8533, a Boeing 727 freighter operated by Lufthansa Cargo India/ Hinduja Cargo Services crashed approximately 5 minutes after takeoff from Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport, Nepal. The airplane struck the ground at about the 7550 foot level in an area where the airplane was expected to be above 9500 feet. The five crewmembers on board were killed.
The accident was investigated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. The investigation determined that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the flight crew to adhere to a Standard Instrument Departure (SID) and the failure of the controllers to warn the flight of terrain.
Contributing factors were determined to be an incomplete departure briefing, unexpected airspeed decay during the initial climb, inadequate intra cockpit crew coordination and communication and the slow response to the premonition given by the air traffic controller.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/7/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1951 |
| Event Time Zone | Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Event City | KATHMANDU |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | NEPAL |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 5 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | Foreign |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 0 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 7 2004 11:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | HAUT |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | -- |
| NTSB Number | DCA99WA068 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 727-243F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 22168 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Foreign Reg./Foreign Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 43000 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KTM |
| Departure City | KATHMANDU |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | NP |
| Departure Time | 1946 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DEL |
| Destination City | NEW DELHI |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 7 2004 11:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | HAUT |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |