Nepal Plane Crash Kills At Least 40 Out Of 72 On-Board Passengers

Pokhara, Nepal was the site of a plane crash on January 15, 2023, killing all seventy-two aboard.

According to Reuters, a representative from the Nepal Aviation Authority confirmed that at least 40 people had been killed in the country’s deadliest crash in nearly five years.

About two kilometres from the airport, in the Seti River canyon, hundreds of Nepalese soldiers are reportedly engaged in rescue operations.

Yeti Airlines’ spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula told Reuters that the company’s twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft had taken off from Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital.

Babies On-Board The Plane

There are two babies, four crew members, and ten non-natives on board.

Five Indians, four Russians, an Irishman, two South Koreans, an Australian, a Frenchman, and an Argentinian were on board, according to a Nepal airport official.

Reuters reports that the plane crashed shortly after losing touch with the airport from Seti Gorge about 10:30 a.m. According to Bartaula, the collision happened between the two airports in Pokhara.

Witnesses report seeing the plane make a hard turn just before it crashed. Thick black smoke can be seen billowing from the collision site in videos that have been posted online.

Workers from several rescue organisations and large throngs of onlookers cluster around the debris. “Half of the plane is on the slope,” a witness told Reuters.

The other half disappeared down the Seti river’s gorge. There’s also a clip that appears to show the jet making a quick spin while flying low over a city.

Crashed Plane 15 Years Old

There are six ATR 72s in Yeti Airlines’ fleet, according to the company’s website. According to a tweet by user “Flightrader 24,” the plane that crashed was 15 years old.

According to Reuters, air mishaps are rather common in Nepal due to the country’s volatile weather, which can make for hazardous flying circumstances. In May of 2022, another crash occurred in the northern Nepalese district of Mustang, and 22 individuals lost their lives, as reported by the BBC.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of Nepal has convened an emergency cabinet meeting in the wake of the jet disaster.