Yeti Airlines mishap in Pokhara: 69 bodies recovered

Kathmandu: Yeti Airlines ATR-72 has met with an unprecedented mishap in Pokhara.

The Yeti Airlines ATR -72 crashed on the bank of Seti River into the gorge between the old airport and the new airport while landing at the Pokhara airport on Sunday morning.

The plan had flown from Kathmandu to Pokhara this morning with 68 passengers and 4 crew members on board according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

The ship was flown by pilot Kamal KC. According to Chief District Officer of Kaski, Tek Bahadur KC, 69 dead bodies have been recovered from the ship that fell into the gorge.

The C.D.O. KC said that there was no possibility of finding any survivors as almost 80 percent of the ship was burnt. The fire on the ship could not be extinguished till 12:00 in the morning.

Yeti Airlines spokesperson Sudarshan Betaula and Pokhara International Airport Information Officer Bishnu Prasad Adhikari confirmed the accident.

25 women, 37 men, 3 children and 3 infants were on board the crashed plane. According to the Nepal Police, the bodies of 69 people were recovered. Teams of Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have been deployed to search for the bodies of others.

There were 15 foreign nationals in the plane. Among them, 5 Indians, 4 Russians, 2 Koreans and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France were on the plane.

Local observers say the pilot of the plane seems to have diverted the plane to the Seti Gorge in order to save the town people of Pokhara. There were two pilots and two air hostess in the plane.

Government has formed a five member commission to prove the plane crash incident and announced one day national holiday to mourn the death of passengers by hosting half mast national flag across the nation.

An emergency cabinet meeting of council of ministers held at Baluwatar on Sunday has issued directives to conduct technical inspection of all domestic flights to ensure the flight safety.

Nepal Aviation reports say that with this plane crash in Pokhara, as many as 104 plane crashes have been recorded in which over 200 people died.

This is one of the biggest domestic flight crash in Nepal. Rescue operations with the support of cranes are being carried out to recover the remaining dead bodies from the debris in Gorge.

It may be recalled that this was the plane that had successfully conducted a demonstration flight from the Pokhara Regional International Airport during the inaugural ceremony just fifteen days ago.