nepal plane crashNepal’s Civil Aviation Authority said on Sunday (January 15) that 68 passengers on board the ATR-72 Yeti Airlines plane that crashed between the old airport in Pokhara region and the Pokhara International Airport have been confirmed dead.
The Nepali passenger plane that crashed into a river gorge with 72 people on board was an ATR-72 aircraft, the first time such a model met with a crash in Nepal’s tumultuous aviation history.
The Yeti Airlines 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport at around 10:33 am for a 25-minute journey and crashed on the banks of Seti river between the old airport and the new airport. In Pokhara, minutes before landing, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
A total of 68 passengers including five Indians and four crew members were on board the aircraft.
The ATR-72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR, a joint venture between French aerospace company Aerospatiale and Italian aviation group Aeritalia.
The number “72” in its name is derived from the aircraft’s typical standard seating capacity of 72 passengers. Currently, only Buddha Airlines and Yeti Airlines operate ATR-72 aircraft in Nepal.
According to MyRepublica newspaper, Jagannath Niraula, spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, said that this was the first accident of an ATR-72 aircraft in Nepal. Sunday’s incident was Nepal’s deadliest plane crash in more than 30 years, according to data from the Aviation Safety Network.
Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 claimed that the Yeti Airlines plane was 15 years old and fitted with ‘old transponders with unreliable data’. Yeti Airlines spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula said there was no information about any survivors so far.
Nepal has a terrible record of aviation accidents, partly due to its sudden weather changes and airstrips located in inhospitable rocky terrain.
The Government of Nepal has declared tomorrow a national holiday to mourn the deaths of the people on board the Yeti plane crash today. Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari took to her Twitter handle to express her condolences to the passengers and crew members who lost their lives. He also expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
Know about the ‘Indian citizens’ who lost their lives:
Four of the five Indians killed in the plane crash in Nepal were planning to participate in paragliding in the popular tourist hub of Pokhara, a local resident said.
The five Indians were identified as-
- Abhishek Kushwaha, 25, a resident of Ghazipur, UP
- Vishal Sharma, 22, a resident of Ghazipur, UP
- Anil Kumar Rajbhar, 27, from Ghazipur, UP
- Sonu Jaiswal, 35, resident of Ghazipur, UP
- Sanjay Jaiswal is from Sitamarhi, Bihar
Four of the five Indian nationals had reached Kathmandu from India on Friday itself.
“We were planning to enjoy paragliding in Pokhara, the city and tourist center of the four lakes,” recalled Ajay Kumar Shah, a resident of Sarlahi district in southern Nepal. “We came together from India in the same vehicle,” he said.
They stayed at the Gaushala near the Pashupatinath Temple and then at Hotel Discovery Inn in Thamel before going to Pokhara. He said that they were planning to return to India from Pokhara via Gorakhpur.
Read also: Nepal: 5 facts about Yeti Airlines plane that crashed just 10 seconds before landing
Yeti Airlines spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula said there was no information about any survivors so far. Four of the five Indian nationals who died were residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district, District Magistrate, Ghazipur, Aryaka Akhouri told the media over a phone call.
“The families have been contacted. Our sub-divisional magistrate and other officials are meeting them,” he added. “We are also in touch with the embassy. Rescue operations are going on there. It has now stopped for the night. It will resume tomorrow. We will take necessary steps once the bodies are recovered,” he added.
rescue operation:
The rescue and search operation was halted on Sunday and will resume on Monday (Jan 16) to find the remaining bodies trapped in the deep river gorge surrounded by sheer cliffs.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ expressed grief over the plane crash and ordered an inquiry into the incident.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was saddened by the tragic air crash in Nepal in which precious lives, including those of Indian citizens, have been lost.
In a tweet, Modi said, “Anguished by the tragic air crash in Nepal, in which precious lives have been lost, including Indian citizens. In this hour of grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families.” ,
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed grief over the plane crash and said, “Our thoughts are with the affected families.” Jaishankar said in a tweet, “Deeply saddened to hear about the plane crash in Pokhara, Nepal. Our thoughts are with the affected families.”
civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia condoled the loss of lives in the plane crash in Nepal and termed it as “extremely unfortunate”.
4 of the 5 Indians killed in the plane crash were residents of Ghazipur.,
Four of the five Indians killed in the plane crash in Nepal were residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district, officials said. Ghazipur District Magistrate Aryaka Akhori told the media over the phone that the administration has reached out to the affected families.
“Our sub-divisional magistrate and other officials are meeting them. We are also in touch with the embassy and will take necessary steps after the bodies are recovered,” he added.
The four victims from Ghazipur district have been identified as Sonu Jaiswal, Anil Rajbhar, Abhishek Kushwaha and Vishal Sharma. A police spokesman said Sharma belonged to Alawalpur Chatti village in Badesar area of the district, Chak Zainab in Jaiswal and had houses in Alawalpur Chatti, but was currently living in Sarnath. He told that Rajbhar was a resident of Chak Zainab of Badesar area and Kushwaha of Dharwa of Nonhara area of Ghazipur.
When asked about the fifth Indian killed in the plane crash, who was identified as Sanjay Jaiswal, the police spokesman said that he may have roots in Ghazipur, but it is yet to be confirmed. Police spokesperson said that as per available information he was living in Kathmandu.
UP CM Yogi instructs officials to bring dead body,
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath Condolences on the tragic plane crash in Nepal on Sunday in which 68 people, including five Indians, died. Taking to Twitter, the Chief Minister said that officials have been instructed to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to make arrangements to bring the mortal remains of the deceased people of Uttar Pradesh to the state.
“The plane crash in Nepal is extremely sad. Humble tributes to all those killed in it including Indian citizens! My condolences are with the bereaved families. Lord Shri Ram may the departed souls rest in His feet,” CM Yogi tweeted. The officials have been directed to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs to make arrangements to bring the mortal remains of the deceased from Uttar Pradesh to the state.”
What do the experts have to say on the plane crash,
Mishandling, aircraft system malfunction or pilot fatigue may have been the cause of Sunday’s deadly plane crash in Nepal that killed at least 68 people, according to pilots and an air crash investigation expert. He also said that the exact cause of the accident would be known only after a detailed investigation.
Nepal, which has seen several plane crashes in recent years, witnessed the crash of an ATR-72 aircraft operated by Yeti Airlines flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara. Video clips on social media purportedly show the trajectory of the plane seconds before it crashed, it was a clear sky and the weather was not bad.
A plane crash investigator told PTI that according to a video clip, the plane’s nose pitched up and its wings tilted to the left before the crash, and there could have been a stall. He said on condition of anonymity that the exact cause of the crash would be known only after a detailed investigation is completed, initially it appears that the pilot mishandled or there was a fault in the aircraft’s angle of attack system.
The man, who was involved in several plane crash investigations, was also closely associated with the Calicut plane crash investigation in 2020. A senior pilot of a major Indian carrier, who did not wish to be quoted, said following procedures are paramount when flying to areas like that in Nepal.
The pilot, who also flies to Nepal, said several factors, including pilot fatigue, could have led to the crash. While flying a plane, decisions have to be made at every step and a pilot needs to be well rested. Hence, there could be pilot fatigue and there could be a possibility of non-adherence to procedures, the pilot said.
A pilot with a regional carrier, who has been flying ATR planes for nearly two decades, said the particular plane may have suffered a stall or there could have been pilot error. The pilot said that the cause of the accident would be known only after the completion of the investigation.
“The aircraft involved is a 15-year-old ATR 72-500 with registration number 9N-ANC and serial number 754. The aircraft was equipped with an old transponder with unreliable data. We are downloading high-resolution data and the quality of the data Confirming.” ,” flight tracking website Flightradar24 said in a tweet.
(with inputs from agencies)
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