A total of sixty-eight people perished on Sunday after Yeti Airlines’ domestic flight crashed in Nepal, specifically in the city of Pokhara. This is known to be the worst aircraft crash incident in the history of Nepal after more than thirty years.
Teams of rescue workers explored and scoured the plane crash area where the ill-fated aircraft fell down. According to records, the plane carried a total of seventy-two passengers. Hundreds of rescue personnel stopped searching for the day and said they will resume their search work on Monday.
TV footage presented by different television channels showed rescue personnel scrambling and scouring everywhere, especially on the places where the broken pieces of the aircraft were found. There were also some segments and parts of the surrounding area which were scorched, and licks of fire were also visible. Surprisingly, there was no weather problem during the crash so, this may not be the cause of the accident.
Records show that the very last aircraft that crashed in Nepal took place sometime in 1992. This means that this most recent plane crash happened after over thirty years when an A300 Pakistan airbus fell down and crashed while approaching Kathmandu. The plane crash has killed 167 people onboard and authorities said that no one survived in the crash.
From the year 2000, more than 350 people were killed due to helicopter or plane crashes in Nepal. The country is popularly known to be the home to 8 of the 14 highest mountain peaks in the world which include Mount Everest. These mountain ranges and peaks are common reasons for sudden weather changes and hazardous conditions.
Prior to this reality, the European Union banned all the airlines of Nepal to travel within the country’s airspace. This instruction made by the authorities took effect in 2013, stressing and citing safety as its major reason why such an instruction was implemented.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said that the ill-fated plane made contact with the airport of Pokhara from Seti George, at approximately 10:50 in the morning. After the said contact, the plane fell down and crashed. Authorities confirmed that sixty-eight people got killed in that crash, making it one of the deadliest plane crashes in the history of Nepal.
A local resident said that about half of the plane’s body was found on the hillside. He added that the other half of the plane fell into a river gorge in Seti. Another local witness also testified that he had seen the aircraft from above before it crashed. The plane was trembling and moving left to right, right to left then suddenly stopped flying and nose-dived into the river gorge.
Prior to this plane crash incident, the government of Nepal has made it possible to come up with a panel that will hold the responsibility of investigating the incident. It was mandated that the panel should be able to manifest its findings in not more than forty-five days.
The air accident investigation authority of France also stated that it will join the force that will investigate the potential cause of the plane crash. Moreover, it will also take the time to coordinate with all authorities and other parties involved at all times.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority, what was really disheartening to know is that the twin-engine plane has its record of carrying 3 children and 3 infants. The doomed plane also carried people of different nationalities. Based on the records, there were five Indian nationals who were onboard the unfortunate aircraft. It also carried four Russians, one Australian, one Irish, one Argentinian, and two South Korean.
