KATHMANDU: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has suspended five officials of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), including Executive Chairman Yuvraj Adhikari, for unauthorized actions. The officials were suspended for unauthorized dispatch of Nepal Airlines' A-330 aircraft with call sign 9N-ALY to Italy for a C-check (a detailed maintenance check) without proper approval.

CAAN issued a letter on Tuesday prohibiting Executive Chairman Yuvraj Adhikari from acting as the Accountable Manager of NAC. The same day, captains Deepuraj Jwarchan (operations director), Maheshwarman Dangol, and Raman Ghimire received letters of suspension.  Additionally, CAAN banned Nepal Airlines' CAMO Manager Gyan Bahadur Kunwar from working.

“Accountable Manager, OD, & CAMO Manager of Nepal Airlines have been removed from CAAN assigned post and the crew of 9N-ALY flight have been taken off roster until further notice for violating AOCR and CAR by sending aircraft to unapproved location (Italy) without CAAN's permission,” CAN tweeted on X.

The regulatory body has suspended the license privileges of captain duo Dangol and Ghimire. A letter was also sent to Captain Jwarchan, prohibiting him from working as the operations director. These pilots and officials will not be allowed to resume their work until further decision of CAAN.

CAAN reported that the NAC officials did not obtain any authorization to send the wide-body aircraft to Italy for the C-check. The aircraft initially flew to Dubai on a scheduled flight on June 22 and subsequently departed for Italy the next day without approval. The aircraft remains in an unauthorized and unattended state in Italy.

The authority's letter states, "The aircraft flew to Italy from Dubai without receiving approval from the authority and is currently in an unauthorized location and unattended state."

As per Section 31 of the Civil Aviation Authority Act, 2053, the executive chairman acted irresponsibly by not following the orders and instructions issued by the CAAN, leading to his suspension as Accountable Manager.

Attempts to contact the executive chairman for comments were unsuccessful. NAC spokesperson Ramesh Paudel declined to respond formally, noting that they had not yet received the letter. However, he confirmed the aircraft's dispatch to Italy for a C-check.

Hansraj Pandey, spokesperson for the CAAN, stated that Nepal Airlines Corporation failed to comply with aviation safety regulations. Periodic C-checks are mandatory, and the NAC was aware of the impending deadline. The NAC should have informed the CAAN two months earlier, but instead, the aircraft was sent to Europe (Italy) for maintenance without prior notice or permission, prompting the CAAN to initiate disciplinary action.