Sunday’s tragedy in Nepal, which killed at least 68 people, was co-piloted by the widow of a pilot who perished in a plane crash nearly 17 years ago.
Anju Khatiwada, 44, joined Nepal’s Yeti Airlines in 2010, following in the footsteps of her husband, Dipak Pokhrel, who was murdered four years previously when the small passenger jet he was operating during landing crashed.
Sunday, Khatiwada was the co-pilot on a Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu that crashed as it approached the city of Pokhara, in what was Nepal’s deadliest aviation accident in three decades.
No survivors have been located so far among the 68 passengers and four crew members.
Yeti Airlines spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula stated that Khatiwada’s spouse perished in a Twin Otter plane disaster in Jumla in 2006.
“She received pilot training with the insurance money she received after the death of her husband,” Bartaula noted.
Khatiwada, a pilot with over 6,400 hours of flight service, had previously flown the popular tourist route from Kathmandu to Pokhara, Nepal’s second-largest city.
The body of Kamal K.C., the plane’s captain with more than 21,900 hours of flight time, has been discovered and positively identified from the debris.
Kathiwada’s remains have not been identified, although Bartaula believes she is deceased.
“On Sunday, she was flying the plane with an instructor pilot, which is standard procedure for the airline,” stated an unnamed Yeti Airlines representative who directly knew Khatiwada.
“She was always willing to accept any assignment and had already flown to Pokhara,” stated the officer.
According to eyewitness testimonies and a terrifying video of the disaster released on social media, the ATR-72 aircraft that Khatiwada was co-piloting rolled violently before crashing into a canyon near the newly-opened airport and catching fire.
Monday, authorities found the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, which may assist investigators establish what caused the plane to crash in clear weather.
The Nepalese Civil Aviation Authority’s spokesman, Jagannath Niraula, stated that the black boxes will be sent to investigators.
Teknath Sitaula, an official at the Kathmandu airport, verified to Reuters that both recorders were in good condition and would be sent for study based on the manufacturer’s advice.
Monday marked the beginning of a National Day of Sorrow in Nepal, while rescue crews rappelled down a 984-foot gorge to continue the search. Two more bodies were discovered in the early hours of the morning.
Monday, more than twenty-four hours after the disaster, rescuers battled overcast weather and poor visibility as they searched the valley for missing passengers. So far, sixty-eight bodies have been recovered.
At 10:50 a.m., the aircraft last made touch with the airport from near Seti Gorge, according to the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority.
A representative for Pokhara airport told Reuters that the pilot requested a change of runway just minutes before the aircraft was scheduled to land on Sunday.
“Permission was granted. “We don’t inquire (why); if a pilot requests permission to change approach, we provide it,” a spokeswoman, Anup Joshi, explained.
Yeti Airlines’ twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft was finishing the 27-minute journey from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara, located 185 kilometers west.
It was carrying 72 people, including 15 foreign nationals, according to a statement from Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority. Five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina, and France were among the outsiders.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the Western Hospital of the Pokhara Academy of Health and Science, where the bodies are being stored. As they waited, relatives and friends of victims, many of whom were from Pokhara, consoled one another.
Since the year 2000, about 350 people have perished in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal, which is home to eight of the world’s 14 tallest mountains, including Everest, and where rapid weather changes can create hazardous conditions.
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