{"id":13339,"date":"2023-01-16T08:43:56","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T06:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/?p=13339"},"modified":"2023-01-18T21:58:11","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T19:58:11","slug":"at-least-68-killed-as-atr-72-plane-crashes-in-nepal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/at-least-68-killed-as-atr-72-plane-crashes-in-nepal\/","title":{"rendered":"At least 68 killed as ATR 72 plane crashes in Nepal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>At least 68 people were confirmed dead after a plane with 72 onboard crashed in&nbsp;Nepal just seconds before it was due to land. This was the country\u2019s deadliest air accident in three decades.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal\u2019s 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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/tag\/nepal\/\"><span style=\"color:#ac0707\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Nepal<\/span><\/a> has a tragic history of fatal airline accidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nepal plane crashes seconds before it was due to land, killing at least 68 of the 72 people aboard<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6ag6jDRhvU\">pic.twitter.com\/6ag6jDRhvU<\/a><\/p>&mdash; IRIA (@IRIA_Research) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IRIA_Research\/status\/1614712051900841991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 15, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Locals who rushed to the crash site near the Seti River to help search for bodies said \u201cThe flames were so hot that we couldn\u2019t go near the wreckage\u201d. 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&nbsp;as the grief-stricken relatives arrived for the remains of their loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nepal in mourning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said he was \u201cdeeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident.\u201d He said on Twitter: \u201cI sincerely appeal to the security personnel, all agencies of the Nepal government and the general public to start an effective rescue\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prime Minister Dahal rushed to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu after the crash and said \u201dThe full force of the Nepali army, police has been deployed for rescue\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Nepal-plane-crash.jpeg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Nepal-plane-crash.jpeg?resize=825%2C516&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13344\" width=\"825\" height=\"516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Nepal-plane-crash.jpeg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Nepal-plane-crash.jpeg?resize=300%2C188&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Nepal-plane-crash.jpeg?resize=768%2C480&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 825px) 100vw, 825px\" \/><\/a><figcaption><em><sup>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)<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Passengers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nepal\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nepal air crash<\/strong> <strong>history<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nearly 350 people have died since 2000 in the airplane or helicopter&nbsp;crashes in Nepal&nbsp;\u2014 home to eight of the world\u2019s 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\u2019s history of deadly clashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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 \u201cThe ATR specialists are fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer.\u201d France&#8217;s air accident investigation agency BEA would also take part in the probe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019s deadliest air accident in three decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[124,1],"tags":[190,85,216,207],"class_list":["post-13339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-news","tag-accidents","tag-airline","tag-crash","tag-nepal"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Nepal-plane-crash-2023.jpeg?fit=690%2C370&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jJWb-3t9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13339"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13357,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13339\/revisions\/13357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}