Nepal Plane Crash: Flight Data, Voice Recorders Retrieved from Site

By Staff, Agencies

A spokesman for Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority says a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder have been retrieved from the site of the crash of a passenger plane that went down on approach to a newly opened airport in the tourist town of Pokhara.

Jagannath Niraula said the boxes were found today, a day after the ATR-72 aircraft crashed, killing 68 of the 72 people aboard. He said they will be handed over to investigators.

Pemba Sherpa, spokesperson for Yeti Airlines, also confirmed that both the flight data and the cockpit voice recorders have been found.

Nepal began a national day of mourning today, as rescue workers rappelled down a 300m gorge to continue the search. Two more bodies were found this morning.

It remains unclear what caused the crash, the Himalayan country’s deadliest airplane accident in three decades. The weather was mild and not windy on the day of the crash.

A witness who recorded footage of the plane’s descent from his balcony said he saw the plane flying low before it suddenly veered to its left. “I saw that and I was shocked … I thought that today everything will be finished here after it crashes, I will also be dead,” said Diwas Bohora. After it crashed, red flames erupted and the ground shook violently, like an earthquake, Bohora said. “I was scared. Seeing that scene, I was scared.”

Another witness said he saw the aircraft spinning violently in the air after it began descending to land, watching from the terrace of his house. Finally, Gaurav Gurung said, the plane fell nose-first towards its left and crashed into the gorge.

Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority said the aircraft last made contact with the airport from near Seti Gorge at 10.50am before crashing.

The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft, operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines, was competing the 27-minute flight from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara, 200km west. It was carrying 68 passengers, including 15 foreign nationals, as well as four crew members, Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. The foreigners included five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one person each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Pokhara Academy of Health and Science, Western Hospital, where the bodies are being kept. Relatives and friends of victims, many of whom were from Pokhara, consoled each other as they waited.

Twitter was awash with images yesterday that showed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site, about 1.6km away from Pokhara International Airport. The aircraft’s fuselage was split into multiple parts that were scattered down the gorge.

Hours after dark, scores of onlookers remained crowded around the crash site near the airport in the resort town of Pokhara as rescue workers combed the wreckage on the edge of the cliff and in the ravine below.

At Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, family members appeared distraught as they waited for information.

Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal rushed to the airport after the crash and set up a panel to investigate the accident.

“The incident was tragic. The full force of the Nepali army, police has been deployed for rescue,” he said.