Six months after Turkish Airline’s A300 jet crashed at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), its parts laid abandoned at the airport “might be” put up for sale as scrap, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

The source at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) said the jet has been classified to have a constructive loss. Constructive loss means the damage is so extensive that repairs would equal or surpass the cost of the jet or its insurance limit.

The carrier has already dismantled its engines and flown them to its headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. The value of the jet in the market ranges from Rs22 billion to Rs25 billion. 

Although the carrier has not formally written to the Caan on the issue, there has been an informal discussion on selling the parts as scrap. The source added once the carrier settles its insurance claim, the insurance company will own the jet and put it up for sale as scrap. The jet in airworthy condition has a maximum takeoff weight of 242 tonnes.  

On March 4, the airline’s flight TK726 from Istanbul carrying 224 people ploughed into the grassland on the left side of the runway at Kathmandu’s fog-covered airport. No major injuries had been reported. 

The aircraft came to rest, closing the airport for four consecutive days, with the left landing gear on the grassy shoulder and the right one on the runway. More than 60,000 passengers were affected when the runway of the country’s sole international airport with single approach system was blocked by the disabled aircraft.  

After lots of effort, Indian Air Force technicians and a transport plane helped clear the runway following requests by the government. The airline had been given six months to clear its aircraft from the airport.  The airline had assured to clear the jet by six months to the Caan. However, the April 25 earthquake had forced the airline’s technicians to leave Nepal. 

According to a fact-finding report, which has been completed, but yet to be made public, the accident occurred due to the lack of coordination between the Meteorological Forecasting Division, Air Traffic Controller (ATC) and pilots. 

The flight crew has been found to have landed forcibly violating the standard operating procedure that prohibits landing of aircraft in poor visibility. The metrological division had not informed the ATC about reduced visibility, according to the report. Subsequently, the ATC also failed to inform the pilots on the poor visibility that appeared suddenly due to moving fog at the airport area.