A Nepalese passenger plane with 72 people on board, including five Indians, crashed into a river gorge while landing at the newly-opened airport in central Nepal’s resort city of Pokhara on Sunday, killing at least 68 people.
Yeti Airlines’ 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). While landing at the Pokhara airport, the aircraft crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport.
There were a total of 68 passengers including 10 foreigners and four crew members, Republica newspaper reported. Five Indians were among the total 15 foreign nationals onboard the plane, the paper reported. Other foreign nationals included – four Russians, two Koreans, and an Australian, an Irish, an Argentinian and a French.
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Here are five facts about the deadly incident:
Weather Not a problem, Plane Crashed Due to Technical reasons
It was a clear day in Pokhara today and the civil aviation authority of Nepal ruled out adverse weather conditions for the crash.
Gyanendra Bhul, information officer at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said weather was not a problem, preliminary information has been received that the plane crashed due to technical reasons.
“Weather was not a problem, preliminary information has been received that the plane crashed due to technical reasons. Information has been received that flames were seen in the plane while it was still air-borne,” said Gyanendra Bhul, information officer at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
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Plane Crashed ‘10 to 20 Seconds Before Landing’, No Distress Call
The flight crashed 10 to 20 seconds before landing and there was no distress call from the cockpit before the disaster, airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula said, as per Bloomberg.
“The plane would have reached the runway in 10 seconds. However, it met with an accident mid-way,” the airport’s air traffic controller told MyRepublica newspaper.
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Built with China’s Support, Pokhara Airport Was Inaugurated 14 Days Ago
The Pokhara International Airport was inaugurated two weeks ago by Nepal’s newly-appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and built with Chinese assistance. Built in the backdrop of the pristine Annapurna Mountain Range, the airport was officially inaugurated on January 1, 2023.
The flagship project was part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation. The Nepal government signed a USD 215.96 million soft loan agreement with China in March 2016 for the construction of the airport in this tourist hub, according to Kathmandu Post newspaper.
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Yeti Airlines Flight 9N-ANC ATR-72 Was on Its Third Sortie Today
The Yeti Airlines flight 9N-ANC ATR-72 was on its third sortie since Sunday morning. It first flew from Kathmandu to Pokhara and back to Kathmandu earlier in the day, Hindustan Times reported.
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Plane That Crashed Was 15 Years Old
The Yeti Airlines’ plane involved in the crash was a twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft and was 15 years old equipped with an old transponder with unreliable data, as per multiple reports. Manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo, the ATR 72 is a widely used twin-engine turboprop plane. There are six such planes in Yeti Airlines’ fleet.
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