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A spokeswoman for Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority stated that a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder were recovered from the crash site of a passenger plane that crashed on approach to a newly opened airport in the tourist destination of Pokhara.
The boxes were discovered on Monday, one day after the ATR-72 aircraft crashed, killing 68 of the 72 passengers. He stated that they will be given to investigators.
The spokeswoman for Yeti Airlines, Pemba Sherpa, also verified the discovery of both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder.
On Monday, Nepal observed a national day of grief while rescue crews rappelled down a 3,000-foot valley to resume the search. Two further bodies were discovered on Monday morning.
On January 16, 2023, rescue workers investigate the crash scene of a passenger plane in Pokhara, Nepal.
AP
Unknown is the cause of the crash, which was the deadliest airplane catastrophe in the Himalayan nation in 30 years. On the day of the crash, the climate was pleasant and windless.
A witness who filmed the plane’s descent from his balcony stated that he observed the aircraft flying low before abruptly veering to the left. “When I saw that, I was astounded… Diwas Bohora remarked, “I believed that today would be the end of everything here, and that I would perish in the crash.” Bohora stated that after the collision, crimson flames erupted and the ground shook strongly, like an earthquake. “I was terrified. When I saw that scene, I was terrified.”
Observing from the terrace of his home, a second witness stated that he saw the aircraft violently twist in the air as it descended to ground. Finally, according to Gaurav Gurung, the jet nose-dived to the left and crashed into the gorge.
The Nepal Civil Aviation Authority reported that the aircraft made its final touch with the airfield in Seti Gorge at 10:50 a.m. prior to crashing.
The body of a relative killed in the plane crash is transported to a hospital in Pokhara, Nepal, on 15 January 2023 AP.
The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft, operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines, was competing the 27-minute flight from the capital, Kathmandu, to the western city of Pokhara, located approximately 125 miles away. It was carrying 68 passengers, including 15 foreign nationalities, and four crew members, 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.
Monday found Bimala Bhenderi waiting outside the postmortem room. When she heard that her friend Tribhuban Paudel’s flight had crashed, she had planned to meet him on Tuesday. “I’m so sad, I still can’t believe it,” she sobbed.
The district’s police spokeswoman, Gyan Khadka, reported that 31 remains have been identified and would be sent to their families once officials complete autopsy results. The bodies of foreigners and the unidentified will be sent to Kathmandu for further examination.
68 out of 72 passengers have been confirmed dead.
AP
On Sunday, Twitter was flooded with photographs of smoke billowing from the crash site, which was approximately a kilometer from Pokhara International Airport. Multiple fragments of the aircraft’s fuselage were scattered down the gorge.
Several hours after nightfall, crowds of onlookers remained at the crash site near the airport in the resort town of Pokhara while rescue teams sifted through the wreckage on the cliff’s edge and in the ravine below.
Bishnu Tiwari, a local resident who hurried to the crash site near the Seti River to help search for corpses, reported that thick smoke and a roaring fire delayed rescue attempts.
“The flames were so intense that we were unable to approach the wreckage. “I heard a man pleading for help, but due to the fire and smoke, we were unable to assist him,” Tiwari added.
As they waited for information at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, family members appeared distressed.
After the tragedy, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal rushed to the airport and established an investigation team.
“The situation was horrible. The complete strength of the Nepalese army and police have been mobilized for rescue,” he said.
On January 15, 2023, Nepalese rescue personnel and citizens congregate around the wreckage of a passenger airliner that crashed in Pokhara, Nepal.
AP
The Foreign Ministry of South Korea stated in a statement that it is still attempting to determine the fate of two South Korean passengers and has dispatched personnel to the spot. Alexei Novikov, the Russian ambassador to Nepal, confirmed the loss of four Russian people aboard the plane.
The governor of Argentina’s Neuquen region, Omar Gutiérrez, wrote on his official Twitter account that an Argentine passenger on the flight was Jannet Palavecino from his area.
According to Palavecino’s Facebook page, she managed the Hotel Suizo in Neuquen. She identified herself as a travel and adventure tourism enthusiast.
Monday, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers told reporters that “our hearts go out to all of the families of the crew and passengers” who perished, and that the government was offering consular assistance to the family of an Australian passenger.
Pokhara is the starting point for the famed Annapurna Circuit trekking trail in the Himalayas. Two weeks ago, the city’s new international airport commenced operations.
The associated aircraft, the ATR 72, has been utilized by airlines worldwide for short regional flights. The aircraft model, which was introduced by a French and Italian alliance in the late 1980s, has been involved in multiple fatal incidents throughout the years.
In Taiwan, ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 aircraft were involved in two separate accidents barely months apart.
According to the Aviation Safety database of the Flight Safety Foundation, since 1946 there have been 42 fatal aviation crashes in Nepal.
In July 2014, a TransAsia ATR 72-500 jet crashed while attempting to land on the picturesque Penghu island between Taiwan and China, resulting in the deaths of 48 passengers. In February 2015, an ATR 72-600 flown by the same Taiwanese airline crashed shortly after takeoff in Taipei when one of its engines failed and the other was allegedly shut down by accident.
The 2015 tragedy, captured on dramatic video showing the jet colliding with a cab as it careened out of control, resulted in the deaths of 43 people and forced authorities to temporarily stop all ATR 72s registered in Taiwan. In 2016, TransAsia halted all flights and subsequently discontinued operations.
ATR tweeted that the aircraft involved in Sunday’s tragedy was an ATR 72-500. According to flightradar24.com’s plane tracking data, the aircraft was 15 years old and “equipped with an outdated transponder that provided unreliable data.” According to Airfleets.net, it was previously operated by India’s Kingfisher Airlines and Thailand’s Nok Air before Yeti took over in 2019.
Yeti Airlines owns six ATR 72-500 aircraft, according to company spokeswoman Sudarshan Bartaula.
Nepal, which contains eight of the fourteen highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, has a history of plane crashes. Sunday’s tragedy is the deadliest in Nepal since 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines plane carrying 167 passengers crashed into a mountainside while attempting to land in Kathmandu.
According to the Aviation Safety database of the Flight Safety Foundation, since 1946 there have been 42 fatal aviation crashes in Nepal.
According to Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority’s 2019 safety report, the country’s “hostile topography” and “various weather patterns” posed the greatest threats to flights. According to the survey, such accidents occurred at airports with short runways for takeoff and landing, and the majority were caused by pilot mistake.
37% of all air crashes in Nepal between 2009 and 2018 were caused by pilot mistake, excluding helicopters and leisure flights, according to the report.
Since 2013, the European Union has prohibited Nepalese airlines from flying into the 27-nation bloc, claiming inadequate safety standards. 2017 saw gains in Nepal’s aviation sector, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization, but the EU continues to urge administrative reforms.
»Flight data and voice recorders are recovered from the crash site in Nepal«