Nepal Airlines’ most well-known pilot has just been suspended, and it’s the fourth time that he has been in trouble with regulators.
Aviation regulators suspend senior Nepal Airlines captain
On Friday, November 28, 2025, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) grounded two Nepal Airlines pilots, after they were determined to be filming inside the flight deck during an active flight. This is a breach of the country’s regulations for pilots, once again putting a spotlight on safety at the national carrier.
Specifically, the CAAN called on the suspension of two pilots, including Captain Vijay Lama, for engaging in “photo/videography while operating the aircraft.” Captain Lama is a controversial figure, as the 61-year-old is also an actor, singer, and television presenter, with over 330K subscribers on YouTube, and over 38K followers on Instagram.
Here’s the wild part — this is the fourth time that Captain Lama has faced discipline from the CAAN for violating operational standards. Perhaps his most high profile incident involved aviation vlogger Sam Chui, who flew on the airline, and was invited into the flight deck during the flight, a direct violation of the country’s aviation policies.
This pilot is displaying some very bad judgment
I suppose to Captain Lama’s credit, he’s extremely experienced, and has over 25,000 flight hours, so he obviously knows what he’s doing. At the same time, it sure seems like he thinks he’s “above the law” when it comes to aviation regulations.
One certainly has to wonder just how clouded his judgment is. For example, if regulations don’t allow for visitors in the flight deck during a flight, and then he chooses to invite someone in who films all of this, what does that really say about his judgment?
What makes that incident involving Chui especially strange is that he was rostered onto the flight at the very last minute, so presumably the airline put him on the flight because Chui would be onboard. So one wonders if he was just given the directive to do whatever Chui wanted, or what…
In this latest incident, it’s not clear to me just how serious this violation was. In many parts of the world, pilots are allowed to take pictures and videos during some non-critical phases of flight. Does Nepal just have stricter regulations, or was he engaged in these activities during more critical phases of flights?
No matter how you slice it, having a pilot be suspended four times while keeping his job is quite something. It makes you wonder if the regulations are too strict, if this guy just gets too much lenience on account of his “celebrity” status, or what…
Bottom line
Nepal Airlines’ most famous captain has been suspended for a fourth time, reportedly for taking videos and pictures inflight, in violation of aviation regulations in the country. In isolation that wouldn’t be much of a story, but this is the fourth time he has faced punishment with regulators, with a previous incident involving him allowing a vlogger into the flight deck.
I’m not sure if Nepalese authorities are just strict with what they’ll suspend people over, or not strict enough when it comes to suspending licenses for those with repeated infractions.
What do you make of this fourth suspension of Nepal Airlines’ most well-known pilot?
