At least 68 killed as ATR 72 plane crashes in Nepal

Asia-Pacific, News January 16, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

At least 68 people were confirmed dead after a plane with 72 onboard crashed in Nepal just seconds before it was due to land. This was the country’s deadliest air accident in three decades.

The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airline went down at about 10:50 a.m. local time between the old and new Pokhara airports in central Nepal while en route from Kathmandu. There were 68 passengers and four crew members on board, according to airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula.

Videos of the incident showed the plane flying low and approaching the airport for landing before starting to spin. The cause of the crash remains unclear but Nepal has a tragic history of fatal airline accidents.

Many onlookers gathered at the crash site near Pokhara airport as rescue workers searched through the wreckage on the cliff edge and in the ravine below. Nepali officials reported that two helicopters and a ground team were being utilized in the search for missing individuals.

Nepal plane crashes seconds before it was due to land, killing at least 68 of the 72 people aboardpic.twitter.com/6ag6jDRhvU
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Locals who rushed to the crash site near the Seti River to help search for bodies said “The flames were so hot that we couldn’t go near the wreckage”. Local resident Bishnu Tiwari said the rescuers could hear a survivor crying for help but could not get to him because of the flames and smoke. Firefighters carried bodies, some burned beyond recognition, to hospitals as the grief-stricken relatives arrived for the remains of their loved ones.

Nepal in mourning

The government declared Monday a public holiday to mourn the victims and has set up a panel to investigate the cause of the disaster within 45 days. Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said he was “deeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident.” He said on Twitter: “I sincerely appeal to the security personnel, all agencies of the Nepal government and the general public to start an effective rescue”.

Prime Minister Dahal rushed to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu after the crash and said ”The full force of the Nepali army, police has been deployed for rescue”.

*^{Rescue teams work to retrieve bodies at the crash site of an aircraft carrying 72 people in Pokhara in western Nepal on January 15, 2023. (Image Credit: Reuters)}*

Passengers

Nepal’s civil aviation authority said that 53 of the passengers and all four crew members were Nepali. Fifteen foreign nationals were on the plane including five Indians, four Russians, two Koreans, and one person each from Australia, Argentina, France and Ireland. The civil aviation authority said that 37 passengers were men, 25 were women, three were children and three were infants.

Nepal air crash history

Nearly 350 people have died since 2000 in the airplane or helicopter crashes in Nepal — home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest and a major attraction for mountaineers and trekkers. The European Union has banned Nepali airlines from its airspace since 2013, citing safety concerns and Nepal’s history of deadly clashes.

Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 reported that the Yeti Airlines aircraft was 15 years old and equipped with an old transponder with unreliable data. The domestic carrier Yeti had a fleet of six ATR 72-500s, including the one that crashed.

The aircraft involved in the crash was an ATR 72-500, a twin-prop turbojet commonly used by low-cost carriers for short-distance flights. The European aircraft manufacturer said that “The ATR specialists are fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer.” France’s air accident investigation agency BEA would also take part in the probe.