Nepal receives plane Black Box after 30 years of worst crash Officials claimed investigators on Monday discovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of a passenger flight that crashed, killing at least 70 people in Nepal’s worst aviation disaster in 30 years.
To find out what caused the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 plane, which was carrying 72 people, to crash Sunday just before landing in the tourist destination of Pokhara, investigators can examine the data from the recorders.
As recommended by the manufacturer, both recorders will be sent for study. According to Kathmandu airport official Teknath Sitaula, both writers were in good condition. ATR is based in France, while Pratt & Whitney Canada produced the aircraft engines there (RTX.N).
Since the crash, all ATR 72 and ATR 42 aircraft have been inspected by the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority, which has not found any technical issues with any of them, according to a statement released Monday.
According to a representative of the aviation authority, there are now 16 ATR 72 aircraft and three ATR 42 aircraft with multiple airlines in the country. More than 24 hours after the disaster, rescuers battled overcast skies and limited visibility as they searched a river valley for passengers who are still missing.
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According to Navin Acharya, a representative of the rescue coordination center at Kathmandu airport, two more bodies were found on Monday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 70. As night fell, the search for the last two missing persons was halted. It will pick up again on Tuesday, he said.
Ajay KC, a police officer in Pokhara, reported that all the remains had been taken to a hospital. About 100 people lit candles at a rally in the capital Kathmandu to honor the victims of the crash, urging the government to maintain appropriate safety standards, according to witnesses.
Condolences poured in from all over the world, including the Vatican.
“His Holiness Pope Francis extends his condolences to you and all those affected by this tragedy, along with his prayers for those involved in the recovery efforts,” Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said in a message to the President of Nepal. Rescuers inspected the burnt-out plane wreckage close to a mountain canyon in Reuters footage of the crash site.
The plane was carrying 57 Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans and one each from Argentina, Ireland, Australia and France on a scheduled journey from Kathmandu to Pokhara, the gateway to the picturesque Annapurna Mountains.
Minutes before the plane was due to land on Sunday, the pilot requested a runway change, a Pokhara airport spokesperson said Monday. “Permission has been granted. “We don’t ask (why). Whenever a pilot requests it, we give permission to change approach,” said spokesman Anup Joshi.
Analysts said Sunday’s tragedy highlighted the government’s need to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), which oversees airport management and airline regulation.
“The government should immediately separate the regulatory agency and the service provider by splitting the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), which is now doing both works,” KB Limbu, an aviation expert and retired pilot, told Reuters.
“This leads to a conflict of interest.”
When asked for the answer, Sitaula, a Kathmandu airport representative, refuted such problem with CAAN’s operation.
“The regulatory and service (airport management) officers are separate and there is no reciprocal movement between the two bodies operating under the same organization,” he said, referring to the CAAN.
There are nine domestic airlines in Nepal, including Yeti Airlines and Tara Air. Of the 359 people who have died in aviation accidents worldwide since 2000, at least 165 have died in plane crashes in Nepal, according to CAAN data.
Home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest, and where rapid weather changes can create dangerous conditions, Nepal has seen another 75 fatalities in helicopter crashes this century.
Plane crash in Nepal | Found the black box of the crashed plane: Sher Bath Thakur, Kathmandu airport official to ANI
Images from the search and rescue operation in Pokhara. pic.twitter.com/Qqhz68Glym
— ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2023
According to experts, multiple causes often contribute to aviation accidents and investigations can take months or more. Anju Khatiwadathe co-pilot of the unfortunate plane that crashed on Sunday lost her husband Dipak Pokhrel in a related accident in 2006. Although Khatiwada’s bones have not been found, she is believed to be dead.
Nepal on Monday marked a day of national mourning and set up a panel to study the catastrophe and recommend steps to prevent similar events in the future.
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