Nepal’s Worst Air Crash in Three Decades Kills at Least 68

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KATHMANDU — At least 68 people were killed on Sunday when a domestic flight of Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara in Nepal, the worst air crash in three decades in the small Himalayan nation.

Rescue workers from hundreds of agencies searched the hillside where 72 people were rescued from Kathmandu. Officials called off search operations late in the evening, stating that they would resume on Monday.

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Local TV footage showed rescue workers working around the wreckage of the aircraft. A large portion of the ground around the crash site was burned, and flames could be seen.

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It was clear weather and no indications of the cause of the crash were immediately available.

It was Nepal’s deadliest air crash since 1992, the Aviation Safety Network database showed, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A300 crashed into a hillside upon approach to Kathmandu, killing all 167 people on board.

Nearly 350 people have died since 2000 in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal – home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest – where sudden weather changes can make for hazardous conditions.

In response to safety concerns, the European Union has since 2013 banned Nepali airlines f from its airspace.

The plane on Sunday made contact with Pokhara airport from Seti Gorge at 10:50 a.m. (0505 GMT), the country’s Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. “Then it crashed.” It said that at least 68 people had been confirmed dead.

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“Half of the plane is on the hillside,” Arun Tamu (a local resident) told Reuters he arrived at the scene just minutes after the plane had gone down. “The other half has fallen into the gorge of the Seti river.”

Khum Bahadur Chotri, another local resident said that he was on the roof of his home as the flight approached.

“I saw the plane trembling, moving left and right, and then suddenly it nosedived and it went into the gorge,” Chhetri told Reuters.

Bishnu Paiudel, finance minister, stated that the government had set up a panel of experts to investigate the cause of the crash. They are expected to report back to reporters within 45 days.

Those on board the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft included three infants and three children, the Civil Aviation Authority’s statement said.

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The passengers included five Indians (four Russians) and one Irishman, two South Koreans, one Australian and one Argentine.

FLIGHTS CANCELLED BY YETI

The journey to Pokhara, Nepal’s second largest city tucked under the picturesque Annapurna mountain range, from the capital Kathmandu is one of the Himalayan country’s most popular tourist routes, with many preferring a short flight instead of a six-hour-long drive through hilly roads.

According to a spokesperson for Pokhara Airport, the plane crashed while it was approaching the airport. “plane cruised at 12,500 feet and was on a normal descent.” It was sunny on Sunday.

Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 stated that the Yeti Airlines aircraft was fifteen years old and had an older transponder with inconsistent data. It stated that the last signal from transponder was received at 2 875 feet above sea level at 0512 GMT.

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According to FlightRadar24, Pokhara Airport lies at approximately 2,700-2,800 feet above the sea level.

Yeti claims to be a top domestic carrier on its website. It has six ATR 72500s in its fleet, including the one that crashed. Tara Air is also part of the fleet. Together, they offer the “widest network” According to the company, Nepal is being considered.

Yeti stated that it had cancelled all regular flights on Monday “mourning for the passengers who lost their lives.”

The ATR72 of European planemaker ATR is a widely used twin engine turboprop plane manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo. According to Yeti Airlines, the airline has six ATR72-500 aircraft.

“ATR specialists are fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer,” ATR stated in a statement.

Leonardo and Airbus didn’t immediately respond to our requests for comment.

(Reporting by Gopal Singh; Additional reporting by Jamie Freed, Sudipto Ganguly; Writing and Editing by Aditya Kalra, Devjyot Gahoshal; Editing and writing by Susan Fenton and William Mallard)