World

67 passengers killed as plane crashes in Nepal

Published: 06:01 AM,Jan 15,2023 | EDITED : 04:01 PM,Jan 15,2023

 
At least 67 people were confirmed dead Sunday when a plane with 72 on board crashed in Nepal, police said, in the Himalayan country's deadliest aviation disaster in three decades.

"Thirty-one (bodies) have been taken to hospitals," police official AK Chhetri told AFP, adding that 36 other bodies were still in the 300-meter (600-foot) gorge the aircraft plunged into.


This was partially confirmed by the army, with a spokesman saying 29 bodies had been retrieved and that there were 33 more at the site in Pokhara in central Nepal.

"The aircraft crashed into a gorge so it is difficult to bring the bodies Search and rescue is ongoing. No survivors have been found yet," army spokesman Krishna Prasad Bhandari told AFP.

One local official said that some survivors had been taken to the hospital -- but this was not confirmed by either the airline Yeti Airlines or others.

Yeti spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula told AFP that among those on board -- 68 passengers and four crew -- were 15 foreigners including five Indians, four Russians and two Koreans. The rest were Nepalis.

The flight from Kathmandu slammed into the gorge and smashed to pieces between Pokhara's domestic and brand new international airport on Sunday shortly before 11:00 am (0515 GMT).

After the crash, rescue workers were hosing down parts of the wreckage of the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop while smoke drifted out of a ravine as hundreds of people watched.

The area was strewn with what appeared to be parts of the aircraft, including seats.

Footage shared on social media, which appeared to be shot just after the crash, showed raging flames on the ground and black smoke billowing into the sky from debris strewn across the crash site.

AFP was unable to immediately verify the footage.





Hundreds of rescue workers were scouring the hillside crash site.

The plane was 15 years old, according to the flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

The ATR72 is a widely used twin-engine turboprop plane manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus and Italy's Leonardo. Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 planes, according to its website.

Air accidents are not uncommon in Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest, as the weather can change suddenly and make for hazardous conditions.



Nepal's air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as foreign trekkers and climbers. But it has been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance.

The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over safety concerns.

The Himalayan country also has some of the world's most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.

Aircraft operators say Nepal lacks infrastructure for accurate weather forecasts, especially in remote areas with challenging mountainous terrain where deadly crashes have taken place in the past. The weather can also change quickly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions.

In May 2022, all 22 people on board a plane operated by Nepali carrier Tara Air -- 16 Nepalis, four Indians, and two Germans -- died when it crashed. Air traffic control lost contact with the twin-propeller Twin Otter shortly after it took off from Pokhara and headed for Jomsom, a popular trekking destination. Its wreckage was found a day later, strewn across a mountainside at an altitude of around 14,500 feet (4,400 meters).

About 60 people were involved in the search mission, most of whom trekked uphill for miles to get there. After that crash authorities tightened regulations, including that planes would only be cleared to fly only if there was a favorable weather forecast throughout the route.

In March 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines plane crash-landed near Kathmandu's notoriously difficult international airport, killing 51 people. That accident was Nepal's deadliest since 1992 when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane died when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu.

Just two months earlier, a Thai Airways aircraft had crashed near the same airport, killing 113 people.

Factbox

JAN 15, 2023

A twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft carrying 72 people, operated by Nepal's Yeti Airlines, crashed in Pokhara, killing at least 40. Authorities said the death toll could rise as the plane had broken into pieces.

MAY 29, 2022

Sixteen Nepalis, four Indians, and two Germans died on a De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft that crashed 15 minutes after taking off from Pokhara, 125 km (80 miles) west of Kathmandu, on a Sunday morning.

FEB. 27, 2019

A helicopter crashed in bad weather in eastern Nepal, killing all seven people on board, including the tourism minister. MARCH 12, 2018 Fifty-one of 71 people on a Bangladeshi airliner died when it crashed in cloudy weather as it came in to land at the Nepalese capital's hill-ringed airport. FEB. 26, 2016 Two people were feared dead after a small plane crashed in western Nepal's Kalikot district.

FEB. 24, 2016

A small plane crashed in bad weather, killing all 23 people on board. The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by private Tara Air, was on a flight from Pokhara.

FEB. 16, 2014

All 18 people on a small plane that crashed in bad weather were killed.

SEPT. 28, 2012

A small plane struck a bird and crashed shortly after takeoff from Kathmandu, killing 19 people, including seven British and five Chinese passengers.

SEPT. 25, 2011

A small plane carrying foreign tourists to view Mount Everest crashed in bad weather near Kathmandu, killing all 19 people on board.

DEC. 16, 2010

A small plane crashed in the Himalayan foothills of remote east Nepal, killing all 22 people onboard.

AUG. 24, 2010 Fourteen people - including four Americans, a Japanese, and a British national - were killed when their small plane crashed in bad weather in Nepal. OCT. 8, 2008

A small private plane crashed in the remote mountains of northeast Nepal, killing at least 18 people, mostly foreigners. MARCH 4, 2008 Four U.N. arms monitors were among at least 10 people killed in a helicopter crash in Nepal.

JUNE 21, 2006 A Twin Otter passenger plane belonging to a private Nepali airline crashed minutes before landing in the west of the country, killing all nine people onboard.

MAY 25, 2004 A small cargo plane crashed in the Mount Everest region, killing its three crew.

AUG 22, 2002 A plane carrying foreign tourists slammed into a mountain in bad weather in Nepal, killing all 18 people on board. JULY 27, 2000 A Twin Otter passenger plane crashed in western Nepal on Thursday, killing all 25 people on board.