Sita Air

Is Sita Air safe?

It has a weak record, typical of Nepal's mountain airlines. Sita Air flies four Dornier 228s, mostly to short Himalayan strips such as Lukla, Jomsom, Simikot and Juphal. In September 2012 one crashed just after take-off from Kathmandu, killing all 19 on board, and investigators found it was overweight. Its Dornier 228s have had three landing-gear accidents since, the latest at Juphal in September 2026. Like every Nepali airline, Sita is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary and has no IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit. We score it 44, above Tara Air (27) and below Nepal Airlines (48).

The 2012 Kathmandu crash

Flight 601 left Kathmandu for Lukla at 06:17 on 28 September 2012 with 16 passengers, among them tourists from Britain and China, and three crew. During the take-off run the co-pilot called "rotate" about 13 knots too early. The aircraft lifted off at 86 knots, climbed to about 100 feet and then lost speed in level flight. The pilot told the tower about a bird hit, and the stall warning sounded twice. The Dornier rolled left and crashed beside the Manohara river, 420 metres beyond the end of the runway. Nobody survived. A black kite was found on the runway, but no bird remains were found in the engines.

The commission found that the aircraft had more drag than its engines could overcome and the crew did not keep it above stall speed. It could not say why thrust was low. It also found that the Dornier was about 80 kg over the take-off weight allowed for Lukla, because the load sheet left out the baggage. That was not a one-off: an audit by a European travel company in 2011 had found Sita's load sheets under-recording weight, and the report said Sita's standard figure for a full Lukla flight was itself above the allowed load.

A regulator stepped in

In August 2014 the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) stopped Sita Air from carrying passengers, letting it fly cargo only for a year. The Kathmandu Post reported that CAAN found the aircraft lacked enhanced ground proximity warning systems and that the paperwork was incomplete. Sita later returned to passenger flights. This is more than ten years ago, so it does not lower the score, but it is part of the record.

Gear failures and engine shutdowns

Sita has had no fatal accident since 2012, but its Dornier 228s keep coming back in the news:

• Simikot, June 2013. 9N-AHB landed hard, broke its left main gear and came to rest beside the runway. Nobody was hurt.
• Nepalgunj, November 2021. The same aircraft hit three wild boar during its take-off run for Simikot. The crew stopped, but the nose gear partly collapsed.
• Juphal, September 2026. A Dornier from Nepalgunj lost its rear right wheel on landing in Dolpa with 13 passengers on board. Nobody was hurt, but the aircraft blocked the runway.

Among the lesser events, a Dornier's wing hit a wall at Phaplu in April 2017 after weather closed Lukla. 9N-AJH had an engine shut down near Lukla in February 2018 and again over Kathmandu in September 2019. In April 2025 a hydraulic failure forced flight ST-916 to divert to Kathmandu. Nepal publishes few incident reports, so this is probably not the full list.

None of the gear accidents hurt anyone, and 9N-AHB flew again after its 2013 accident. With one fatal crash in the last 15 years, Sita's accident record sits in our 60–79 band; the overweight finding and the repeated gear failures on four aircraft keep it at the floor, 60, level with US-Bangla Airlines and below Buddha Air (80), whose last fatal crash, in 2011, is more than 15 years ago.

What it flies and where

The airline says it has four Dornier 228s. The 228 is a German short take-off design from the early 1980s, rugged and suited to short strips, but Sita's older aircraft lack a modern cockpit. 9N-AHB, the aircraft in the 2013 and 2021 gear accidents, was built in 1989. Its schedule is almost entirely mountain flying. From Kathmandu it serves Lukla, Phaplu and Ramechhap; from Pokhara, Jomsom; from Nepalgunj and Surkhet, the far-western strips of Simikot, Juphal, Rara, Jumla and Bajura. These are flown by sight through valleys, and at Lukla the runway runs uphill into a mountainside, so there is no chance to go around.

Oversight

CAAN regulates the airlines and also runs the airports, a conflict ICAO has flagged since 2009. ICAO's 2022 audit gave Nepal 70.1% effective implementationICAO USOAPICAO's audit of how well each country's aviation regulator oversees safety. The result is an "effective implementation" percentage.More in the glossary, and the EU has banned every Nepali airline since 2013; the June 2026 list still names Sita Air. Bills to split CAAN into a regulator and an airport operator were registered on 2 October 2026. Sita is not an IATA member, so it has no IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit.

If you are flying to Lukla or the far west

• Take the first flight of the day. Cloud builds in the valleys by late morning, and Tara Air's crashes of 2016 and 2022 both happened after crews flew on into it.
• Do not overpack. The 2012 crash came on a flight that was overweight for Lukla. Stick to the baggage limit, and do not ask staff to stretch it for you.
• Leave spare days. Delays at Lukla, Juphal and Simikot are routine. A trip with no slack puts pressure on everyone, including the crew.
• Compare the airlines on your route. Summit Air and Tara Air fly many of the same strips, and none of them has a strong record.

How we scored it

The environment (15) is the weakest factor: nearly every flight goes to a mountain strip. Oversight (25) is the same as for every Nepali airline. The accident record (60) carries the 2012 crash and three landing-gear accidents on a very small fleet, at the floor of the band for one fatal accident in 15 years. Serious incidents (45) cover the Phaplu wall strike, two engine shutdowns and the 2025 hydraulic failure. The fleet (45) reflects old Dornier 228s.