In a groundbreaking decision, Nepal’s Kathmandu District Court has ruled that US-Bangla Airlines bears unlimited liability for the deaths and injuries from the March 12, 2018, crash of Flight BS211 at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.
The full text of the verdict, released last week, confirms this as the first time in Nepal’s aviation history that a court has held an airline accountable beyond the internationally prescribed liability limits, citing gross negligence and reckless conduct by the flight crew.
The crash involved a 76-seat Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft operating a scheduled flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu. During landing, the plane veered off course, made uncontrolled contact with the ground, and burst into flames, killing 51 of the 71 people on board. The victims included 22 Nepalis, 28 Bangladeshis, and one Chinese national.
It remains the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Bangladeshi airline and the most fatal incident for the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 model.
The ruling, delivered by Judge Diwakar Bhatta on July 20, 2025, stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the families of 16 deceased passengers and one survivor. The full verdict text was made public on January 20, 2026.
The court first affirmed passengers’ entitlement to limited liability compensation under Article 22 of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air (Warsaw Convention) 1929, as amended at The Hague in 1955, which sets baseline limits (often around $20,000 per passenger in practice for such cases).
However, the court escalated to unlimited liability under Article 25 of the Warsaw Convention (as amended), stating: “Considering the nature and circumstances of the accident, the airline incurs unlimited liability for such negligent or reckless conduct.”
The verdict explained that liability limits do not apply under Article 25 “if the damage resulted from acts done with intent to cause damage or recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result.” Similar provisions appear in Article 21(2) of the Montreal Convention 1999. In unlimited liability claims, the burden shifts to the airline to prove the absence of negligence; failure to do so triggers unlimited liability.
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The court drew on precedent like Goldman v Thai Airways International Ltd. (1981), noting that English courts interpret “willful misconduct” as requiring intention or subjective recklessness, and deliberate violations of safety protocols qualify, rendering liability limits inapplicable.
The court observed that the crash resulted from the pilot and flight officer’s negligent and reckless acts, including pilot fatigue, mental stress, confusion during landing, violation of standard operating procedures, and impaired decision-making due to excessive workload. Flight data and cockpit voice recorder analysis revealed no technical defects in the aircraft.
Survivor testimonies were pivotal:
– Dr. Samira Byanjankar (survivor and plaintiff) stated she pursued the case after inadequate compensation and emphasised victims’ right to justice under national and international law.
– Sanam Shakya (another survivor) testified that the aircraft failed to land properly despite normal weather, circled repeatedly at low altitude, and crashed after uncontrolled ground contact. She added that the captain was smoking in the cockpit, failed to make landing announcements, and violated standard procedures.
The court rejected US-Bangla’s defenses, including claims of no jurisdiction (arguing that Dhaka was the destination), limited liability only under the Warsaw Convention, and failure by plaintiffs to prove recklessness or intent. The court affirmed jurisdiction under Article 28 of the Convention, as Nepal was the destination for the Nepali victims (many MBBS students returning from Bangladesh on round-trip tickets).
It stated: “Considering this provision, the fact that the deceased were Nepali citizens who had gone to Bangladesh for study and were returning to Nepal with round-trip tickets does not justify treating both their departure and destination as Dhaka… Nepal was the destination of the deceased, and the filing of the case before a Nepali court cannot be considered to be without jurisdiction.”
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It further cited Article 151 of Nepal’s Constitution, the Judicial Administration Act 2016, and the Civil Procedure Code 2017, noting district courts’ jurisdiction over incidents in their territory (crash, rescue, and investigation occurred at Tribhuvan International Airport). The Patan High Court had upheld this jurisdiction on March 6, 2020.
Excluding the standard $20,000 insurance payout already received by each family (paid April 4, 2019, without admitting liability), the court ordered US-Bangla to pay a total of $2.74 million (approximately Rs378.60 million) to the 17 claimant families. Compensation considered victims’ condition, status, direct/indirect losses to dependents, education costs, funeral expenses, legal costs, non-economic damages, and loss of future income.
Specific awards (excluding $20,000 insurance):
– Seven families of MBBS students (Ashna Shakya, Anjila Shrestha, Meeli Maharjan, Neega Maharjan, Princy Dhami, Sanjaya Maharjan, Shreya Jha): ~$170,382 each (Rs23.4 million).
– Six other MBBS students (Shweta Thapa, Sanjay Poudel, Purnima Lohani, Angila Baral, Charu Baral, Saruna Shrestha): ~$179,418 each (Rs24.73 million).
– Prasanna Pandey (Himalaya Airlines employee): $107,170 (Rs14.74 million).
– Dr. Bal Krishna Thapa (neurosurgeon): $277,548 (Rs36.74 million).
– Gyani Kumari Gurung (67-year-old nurse): $45,301 (Rs6.2 million).
– Survivor Dr. Samira Byanjankar: $44,290 (Rs6.1 million).
For one victim (Neega Maharjan, an MBBS student near completion), compensation covered education costs, funeral expenses, legal costs, non-economic damages, and lost future income, totalling Rs262.45 million (with deductions for prior payments).
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The families had sued on July 31, 2019, seeking unlimited compensation of Rs298.26 million ($2,711,426) for wrongful death. Many initially rejected the airline’s $50,000 settlement offers (paid to some Bangladeshi heirs under Bangladeshi law) to pursue full justice.
This ruling is historic in Nepal, which has seen 70 air crashes over seven decades, causing ~964 deaths, most tied to gross negligence, yet without prior court-imposed airline financial accountability. The court concluded the airline bore gross negligence for failing to operate an airworthy aircraft per required standards, driven by the crew’s willful misconduct and questionable mental state.
At the time of the crash, US-Bangla held $107 million in insurance ($7 million for the aircraft, $100 million for passenger liabilities) through Bangladeshi insurers Sena Kalyan Insurance and Sadharan Bima Corporation.
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