In the nation’s smallest Himalayan nation’s deadliest catastrophe in nearly five years, a domestic flight crash in Pokhara on Sunday, killing at least 40 passengers, according to a representative of the Nepal aviation authority.
Hundreds of rescuers are still searching the mountainside where the domestic airliner Yeti Airlines, flying out of Kathmandu, crashed.
Jagannath Niroula, a spokesman for the Nepal civil aviation authority, declared that rescue efforts were underway. The sky was clear.
Local media showed rescuers and throngs of onlookers gathered around the airplane wreckage as dense black smoke billowed from the crash site.
According to Aviation Safety Network, the accident is the deadliest in Nepal since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop flight from Dhaka crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 persons on board.
“Yeti flew a twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft on Sunday with 72 passengers on board, including four crew members and two children,” announced airline spokeswoman Sudarshan Bartaula.
According to a Nepal airport official, the aircraft was occupied by five Indians, four Russians, one Irish, two South Korean, one Australian, one French, and one Argentinian person.
According to the flight-tracking service FlightRadar24, the aircraft was 15 years old.
The ATR72 is a popular twin-engine turboprop aircraft made by Airbus and Leonardo, an Italian company. According to its website, Yeti Airlines operates a fleet of six ATR72-500 aircraft.
In Nepal, which is home to eight of the fourteen highest mountains in the world, including Everest, flight crash are prevalent because the country’s unpredictable weather patterns can lead to dangerous flying conditions.
According to a government announcement, Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has convened an urgent cabinet meeting in response to the jet disaster.
