At Least 68 Dead After Plane Carrying 72 Crashes Near Nepal Airport.
At least 68 people are dead after a Yeti Airlines flight carrying 72 crashed near the country’s new Pokhara Airport, Nepal’s civil aviation authority said Sunday.
The plane left Kathmandu about 10:30 a.m. local time Sunday and was carrying 68 passengers and four crew members to Pokhara, about 125 miles to Kathmandu’s west and a 25-minute plane ride away. The city is known for its serene lake at the foot of forested mountains and is popular with tourists.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. According to Nepal’s civil aviation authorities, the flight’s commanding pilot last made contact with a nearby air traffic control tower at 10:50 a.m. The plane crashed as it approached to land at Pokhara Airport, Yeti Airlines spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula said.
53 Nepali nationals and 15 foreign nationals were on the flight, including five from India, four from Russia, two from South Korea, one from Argentina, one from Australia, one from France and one from Ireland.
There were at least six children on the flight, according to a passenger list shared by the country’s civil aviation authority.
Police, army, fire and airport rescue services were taking part in the response at the crash site, according to a statement from Yeti Airlines, which identified the downed aircraft as an ATR 72. Nepal’s Culture,
Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry also announced the creation of a commission to investigate the crash. Nepal’s civil aviation authority said in a statement that two helicopters had also been deployed to the scene of the crash.
“I am speechless about the crash,” Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari wrote on Twitter. “I convey my heartfelt condolences to the passengers and the crew members who lost their lives and express my deep sympathy for the family members for their losses.”
ATR, which manufactures turboprop engine aircraft and is based in France, tweeted that the accident involved an ATR 72-500 and that its specialists were “fully engaged” to support the investigation into the crash. “Our first thoughts are with all the individuals affected by this,” the company tweeted. According to ATR’s website, the manufacturer’s 72-500 model can seat 68 passengers and has a range of 888 miles. ATR did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Sunday.
Credit: The Washington Post.
