In January 2014, reports began to surface that a forensic financial audit of Air Zimbabwe had identified significant levels of internal fraud by the airline’s management.

The reports noted that government and airline officials had fraudulently embezzled approximately US$10 million over a four year period by falsifying insurance related documents.

In mid-February, the entire board of Air Zimbabwe was stood down, after an official investigation was initiated based on the findings of the audit. While the investigation remains ongoing, several charges have been issued to the airline’s current and past managerial staff.

In late January 201 4, an Avianca Fokker
50 turboprop aircraft suffered a minor
engine malfunction prior to its departure from Cali, Colombia.

As a precaution, Avianca decided to ground its limited fleet of ageing Fokker 50 aircraft until an investigation into the cause of the engine malfunction could be concluded.

The Fokker 50 aircraft, which had an average age of just over 20 years, had already been earmarked for withdrawal and were set to be phased out by the end of 2014.


In late February, Avianca decided to
permanently ground its remaining fleet of Fokker 50 aircraft, with the airline citing the aircraft’s reliability issues as the primary motive for the grounding.

A Nepal Airlines de Haviland DHC-6 Twin Otter was en-route to Jumla Airport when the crew of the aircraft decided to divert to Bhairahawa Airport due to deteriorating weather conditions.

Air Traffic Control lost contact with the aircraft approximately 30 minutes after the crew decided to divert.

A search for the aircraft was subsequently launched. However, initial attempts to locate the aircraft were hampered by poor weather conditions.

On the 17th of February, Nepal's civil aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN); stated that a rescue team had reached the crash site. The team reported that the aircraft had been completely destroyed and that all occupants had perished in the accident.

In December 2013, Nepal was placed on the EU banned list of airlines after concerns were raised regarding the adequacy of safety oversight undertaken by the CAAN.