NIGHTMARE IN THE COCKPIT

Nepal Plane Crash Caused by Pilot’s ‘Emotional Breakdown’

Fifty-one were killed in the March crash.

A plane crash in Nepal that killed 51 people was caused by the “emotional breakdown” of the pilot, according to investigators, who say he was smoking and crying before the fatal accident. A leaked draft of the official investigation reported Capt. Abid Sultan wept during the flight after his skills were questioned by a co-worker. “This mistrust and stress led him to continuously smoke in the cockpit and also suffer an emotional breakdown several times during the flight,” the report said. The March 12 flight from the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka crash-landed at Kathmandu airport and skidded onto a soccer field, where it burst into flames. The captain’s constant talking led to the “total disorientation” of the co-pilot, Prithula Rashid, who was flying at the time of the crash and had only recently qualified.