Lufthansa Cargo Flight 8533[1] was a scheduled cargo flight from Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal to Indira Gandhi International Airport in India operated by Lufthansa Cargo's Indian subsidiary Hinduja Cargo Services. On 7 July 1999, the Boeing 727 operating the flight impacted Champadevi hills at 7,500 feet (2,200 metres), 15 kilometres (9.3 mi; 8.1 nmi) and crashed with no survivors amongst the 5 occupants onboard.[2][3][4]
![]() VT-LCI, the Boeing 727 involved in the accident | |
Occurrence | |
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Date | 7 July, 1999 |
Summary | Failure to comply with standard runway procedures and failure of air traffic controller to warn the pilots of oncoming terrain |
Site | Champadevi Hills near Tribhuvan International Airport, Nepal |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Boeing 727-243F |
Operator | Hinduja Cargo Services on behalf of Lufthansa Cargo |
Registration | VT-LCI |
Flight origin | Tribhuvan International Airport, Nepal |
Destination | Indira Gandhi International Airport, India |
Passengers | 0 |
Crew | 5 |
Fatalities | 5 |
Survivors | 0 |
The aircraft was a 17 year old Boeing 727-200 Freighter plane. It was delivered previously to Alitalia in 1981 as I-DIRS with Continental Airlines too operating the airframe as N586PE and N14416 before delivery to Hinduja Cargo Services as VT-LCI.[5] There were 5 crew members onboard, namely Gonjalez, Shahni, Vargava, Singh and Roy.[lower-alpha 1][4]
The flight was carrying 21 tons of cargo, mostly loaded with textiles and carpets.[2][6] The flight departed Runway 20 at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport.[1][3] After take-off the flight made a 10-degree bank to the right for heading of 247 at 4.4DME. The power applied on the engines was inadvertently reduced so the aircraft lost height in area where altitude of any departing flight must be above 9,500 feet (2,900 m) while VT-LCI was at 7,500 feet (2,300 m).[1][7] The Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) activated and sounded an alarm in the cockpit for 11 seconds. The speed was reduced to 171 knots (317 km/h; 197 mph) causing the stick shaker to activate. VT-LCI impacted Champadevi Hills at 7:51 p.m. local time with no survivors.[8][9]
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