Passengers waiting to reach Nepal's Janakpur felt a surprise after they ended up in Pokhara, 255 kilometres away from the actual destination, due to a rare flight mix-up by a leading private carrier in Nepal, according to a media report on Sunday. The incident happened on Friday when 69 passengers travelling on Buddha Air landed in Pokhara, a Nepal media reported. 

"The weather was not quite favourable for flights on Friday so carriers were making use of every available weather window to fly the passengers as quickly as possible", the report said. Buddha Air’s flight U4505 was cleared to take off for the destined Janakpur airport in the plains. Passengers were seated and the plane took off, estimated arrival time at Janakpur by 3:15 pm. Due to the weather conditions, the plane took off late but when it landed, it actually reached Pokhara instead of destined Janakpur. 

The preliminary report says due to weather issues, flights to Pokhara were permitted until 3 pm under the visual flight rules (VFR). “The weather was already causing flight delays and to make up for the flying time, Buddha Air officials decided to fly to Pokhara first,” said an official at the airline company. The flight number was changed according to that and the mix-up happened. However, Birendra Bahadur Basnet, Managing Director of the carrier, told the news agency that they have formed a committee to investigate the incident. “There was a miscommunication between the ground staff and the pilots,” said the official, which caused the landing at wrong destination. 

Nepal parliament dissolved, mid term polls to be held in April May 2021

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli calls cabinet meeting suddenly

Nepal's famous Pashupatinath temple will open from today, devotees requested to follow all measures