Jomsom Airport

Jomsom Airport (IATA: JMO, ICAO: VNJS) is a domestic airport located in Jomsom serving Mustang District, a district in Gandaki Pradesh in Nepal.[1] It serves as the gateway to Mustang District that includes Jomsom, Kagbeni, Tangbe, and Lo Manthang, and Muktinath temple, which is a popular pilgrimage for Nepalis and Indian pilgrims.[4]

Jomsom Airport

जोमसोम विमानस्थल
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGovernment of Nepal
OperatorCivil Aviation Authority of Nepal
ServesJomsom, Nepal
Elevation AMSL8,976 ft / 2,736 m
Coordinates28°46′56″N 83°43′21″E
Map
Jomsom Airport
Location of airport in Nepal
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
06/24 739 2,424 Asphalt
Sources:[1][2][3]

Facilities

The airport resides at an elevation of 8,976 feet (2,736 m) above mean sea level.[1][3] It has one asphalt paved runway designated 06/24 which measures 2,424 by 66 feet (739 m × 20 m).[2][3] There is a down slope of 1.75% up to about 418 feet (127 m) from the threshold of runway 06.[3] There is a terminal building for passengers.[5]

There are daily flights between Pokhara Airport and Jomsom during daylight hours in good weather. Although the flying distance is short and flight time just 20 minutes, very high mountains between Pokhara and Jomsom, including Dhaulagiri (8,167 m or 26,795 ft) and Tukuche (6,920 m or 22,703 ft) on the west and Nilgiri Central (6,940 m or 22,769 ft) and Annapurna (8,091 m or 26,545 ft) on the east, require planes to fly through the Kali Gandaki River gorge. With Jomsom Airport located at the head of the gorge, high terrain surrounding the airport presents a hazard when a go-around is required and when, as is frequently necessary after mid-morning, a turn is required at Jomsom to land into southerly winds. Heat from the sun in the Mustang District causes strong southerly winds in the Kali Gandaki River gorge and at Jomsom after early morning.[5] Cloud cover, changing visibility, and high winds, often mean flights are delayed or the airport closed.

The airport is available throughout the year but visibility is not adequate for visual flight rules flight about 15% of the time. As wind speeds increase during and the day and high wind speeds often prevent airport operation after midday, airlines schedule flights to Jomsom for the early morning when wind speeds are low. Airlines operate a shuttle service between Jomsom and Pokhara and planes are turned around as rapidly as possible at each airport in order to complete as many flights as possible before wind speeds at Jomsom become too high or visibility forces the suspension of flights.[5]

Airlines and destinations
A Nepal Airlines plane at Jomsom airport.
Passengers board a Sita Air flight at Jomsom airport.
AirlinesDestinations
Nepal Airlines Pokhara[6]
Sita Air Pokhara[7]
Summit Air Pokhara[8]
Tara Air Pokhara[9]

Incidents
  • On 27 February 1970, a Nepalese Royal Flight de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter crashed while taking off at Jomsom Airport, killing one passenger. Three passengers and one crew member survived but the plane was written off.[10]
  • On 8 November 1993, a Nepal Airways Harbin Yunshuji Y-12-II scheduled passenger flight overran the runway and fell into the river. There were no fatalities but the plane was written off.[11]
  • On 21 August 1998, a Lumbini Airways de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter leased from the Air Transport Support Centre (ATSC, of the Nepalese CAA) on a late morning scheduled passenger flight from Jomsom to Pokhara impacted Mount Annapurna near Ghorepani at the 7000 ft level. All 18 occupants, three crew and 15 passengers, were killed and the plane damaged beyond repair.[12][13]
  • On 14 May 2012, Agni Air Flight CHT Dornier 228, a scheduled passenger flight from Pokhara to Jomsom, crashed into the side of a hill near Marpha village 5 km (3.1 mls) southwest of Jomsom Airport, killing 15 of 21 people on board.[14] The flight attendant and five of the eighteen passengers survived but the plane was damaged beyond repair. The crash claimed the life of Indian child actress Taruni Sachdev.[15] The head of Nepal's national rescue department reported that the pilot told air traffic control moments before the crash that he was diverting back to Pokhara.[16]
  • On 16 May 2013, Nepal Airlines Flight 555 de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, a scheduled passenger flight from Pokhara to Jomsom carrying 18 adult passengers, one infant, and three crew, crashed while landing at Jomsom at 8:30 AM and fell onto the bank of the Kali Gandaki River. The plane was extensively damaged. There were no fatalities but three people, two crew and one passenger, sustained serious injuries and one crew and six passengers sustained minor injuries. Eight of the plane's passengers were Japanese tourists while the three crew members and remaining passengers were Nepali.[17] The final report found that the plane landed at excessive speed and too far from the runway threshold in the opposite direction to the notified direction in use with an eight to twelve knot (15 to 22 km/h) tailwind. The aircraft departed the runway to the right side during braking, re-entered the runway under power at speed, and attempted to take off for a go-around with the flaps retracted. With insufficient speed and lift, the takeoff attempt failed and the aircraft overran the runway, breached the perimeter fence, and fell into the river. The Investigation identified inappropriate actions of the aircraft commander in respect of both the initial landing and his response to the subsequent runway excursion and also cited the absence of effective Crew Resource Management.[3]
  • On 24 February 2016, Tara Air Flight 193, a Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter with registration 9N-AHH, a scheduled domestic passenger flight with 23 people onboard departing from Pokhara at 07:50 am for Jomsom went missing eight minutes after takeoff. Three helicopters dispatched to search for the missing aircraft were initially hampered by bad weather. Hours later, the wreckage and several charred bodies were found. There were no survivors. The crash was the twenty-second loss of a DHC-6 in Nepal, the seventh-deadliest aircraft crash in Nepal, and the world's fourth-deadliest accident involving a DHC-6.[18][19] It was found that en route, flying under visual flight rules, the flight had deviated to the left and climbed to 12,000 feet (3,658 m) to avoid clouds before beginning a descent to 10,000 feet (3,048 m) after entering cloud. The captain initiated another climb one minute before impact shortly after the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) sounded at 10,200 feet (3,109 m). Flying in cloud with little visibility the plane struck a mountainside at 10,700 feet (3,261 m) and came to a rest at 10,982 feet (3,347 m) near Dana village, Myagdi district.[20][21]

See also

References
  1. Airport information for Jomsom, Nepal (VNJS / JMO) at Great Circle Mapper.
  2. Jomsom Airport at AirportGuide.com
  3. FINAL REPORT ON THE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION OF 9N-ABO ... AT JOMSOM AIRPORT,... ON 16 MAY 2013 Archived 30 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Nepal plane crash: 11 Indians among 15 dead, Times of India 14 May 2012". Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  5. "NATIONAL AIRPORTS PLAN Current Situation and Diagnostic" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  6. "Domestic Schedule". Nepal Airlines Corporation. Archived from the original on 2 June 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  7. "Flight Schedule". Sita Air. Archived from the original on 9 June 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  8. "Current Flight Schedule". Summit Air. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  9. Tara Air Destinations Archived 2016-08-22 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 100 9N-RF9 Jomsom Airport (JMO)". Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  11. "ASN Aircraft accident Harbin Y-12 II 9N-ACS Jomsom Airport (JMO)". Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  12. "ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 9N-ACC Ghorepani". Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  13. [ Aviation Safety Network. 21 Aug 1998] Retrieved 15 August 2016
  14. "13 Indians among 15 killed in Nepal air crash". Hindustan Times. 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  15. 'Paa' child actor Taruni Sachdev dies in plane crash Archived 12 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine from Times of India 15 May 2012.
  16. Aviation Safety Network. 14 May 2012 Archived 17 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 7 August 2016
  17. Nepal Plane Crashes Near Jomsom Airport Injuring All Passengers, Including Eight Japanese Tourists Archived 3 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine. International Business Times 19 May 2013.
  18. Missing Tara Air plane with 23 on board could have crashed in Myagdi's Rupse Archived 19 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Kathmandu Post 24 February 2016]
  19. Nepal passenger plane crash kills all 23 on board Archived 15 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine, BBC 24 February 2016.
  20. Aviation Safety Network. 24 Feb 2016 Archived 9 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 15 August 2016
  21. Kathmandu Post 1 August 2016. Archived 26 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 15 August 2016
  22. "Animation of 16 May 2013 incident". Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
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