A large number of emergency personnel began a new search and rescue mission in Nepal after a fatal plane crash that has again exposed the risks of flying in a country that is frequently described as one of the most dangerous locations to fly.
Of the 72 passengers on board at least 70 were killed, and their remains were recovered following the crash. Yeti Airlines flight crashed near the city of Pokhara Sunday.
The search for three missing However, Kaski District Police Chief Superintendent Ajay KC stated on Monday that the likelihood to find survivors is “extremely low” as workers utilized a crane to remove bodies out of the gorge.
Forty-one victims are now identified According to airline. The remains of the victims will be transferred to the family members of the victims according to the officials of the airline and the local police.
The autopsies took longer than expected because the team of experts in forensics was not able to arrive in Pokhara until Monday afternoon local time.
The accident is the most devastating air-related disaster to hit Nepal’s Himalayan nation in the last 30 years. It’s also the third worst aviation crash in Nepal’s past according to statistics from the Aviation Safety Network.
Experts believe that conditions such as bad weather, poor visibility and mountains are all factors in Nepal’s image as being a particularly dangerous place to fly in.
It appears that the Yeti Airlines flight Sunday had almost completed its journey to the capital Kathmandu to Pokhara when it was unable to connect with a control tower. There were 15 foreigners on board according to Nepal’s authorities for civil aviation.
The pilot of the crashed flight tragically lost her husband who was a co-pilot of the same airline in a crash similar to the one that occurred in 2006, as per an Yeti Airlines spokesperson.
Anju Khatiwada decided to become a pilot following the death of her husband, Dipak Pokhrel. She used the insurance payout funds for travel expenses to the US to study, Sudarshan Bartaula told CNN. She was employed by the airline since 2010 , and was armed with more than 6,300 hours of flying experience.
“She was a courageous woman who had all the determination and courage. She has left us far too early,” he said.
Khatiwada served as a Captain, and was flying alongside an instructor pilot to complete additional training prior to the crash, according to Bartaula.
Pokhara is a city that lies on the shores of lakes is a popular tourist destination that is also a an entryway towards the Himalayas. It is the start point for the famed Annapurna Circuit trekking route, with more than 181,000 foreign tourists visiting the region in 2019.
A committee of the government is looking into the causes of the crash with help with assistance from French authorities. It is believed that the Yeti Airlines plane was manufactured by the aerospace company ATR with its headquarters in France.
The black box on the plane that stores flight data was discovered on Monday and is scheduled to be handed over to the civil aviation authority, officials said.
‘Hostile topography’
The unpredictable weather patterns aren’t the only issue in flight operations. According to a safety report issued by the Nepali Civil Aviation Authority, the country’s “hostile topography” is also an element of the “huge challenge” facing pilots.
Nepal is a nation of 29 million inhabitants has eight of the 14 highest mountains which include Everest and its stunning natural landscapes make it a sought-after trekking destination for tourists.
However, this terrain is difficult to navigate by air especially in severe weather conditions. These issues get worse due to the necessity of small aircrafts to reach the most remote and mountainous areas of the country.
Aircrafts with fewer than 19 seats have a higher chance to experience accidents as a result of these issues according to report from the Civil Aviation Authority report said.
Kathmandu is Nepal’s main transport hub, from which many of these tiny flights depart.
A signboard for Tara Airlines is seen behind the climbers’ group as they are preparing to depart for rescue operations from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, May 29 2022. A small plane carrying 22 passengers operating on a highly-visited tourist route was found missing in the Nepalese mountains on Sunday, a government official claimed. This Tara Airlines plane, which was on a scheduled 15-minute flight to Jomsom, a mountain town of Jomsom was able to take off from the town of Pokhara 200 km (125 miles) east of Kathmandu. The plane was unable to contact the airport’s tower just after taking off.
The Lukla airport, located in the city of Lukla located in the northeastern region of Nepal is often called the most dangerous airport on earth. It is known as the entry point to Everest and the runway is set in a cliff overlooking mountains that plunge directly into the abyss near the end. The airport has been the site of numerous fatal crashes in the past such as in the year 2008 and in the year 2019.
Insufficient investment in older aircraft increases the risk of flying.
In 2015 The International Civil Aviation Organization, an United Nations agency, prioritized aiding Nepal via its Aviation Safety Implementation Assistance Partnership. Two years after Nepal and the ICAO and Nepal have announced a partnership to address safety concerns.
Although the nation has recently improved its safety standards, obstacles remain.
In May 2022 in 2022, a Tara Air flight departing from Pokhara crashed into the mountain, killing 22 people.
In the early months of 2018 a US-Bangla Airlines flight connecting the capital city of Bangladesh Dhaka to Kathmandu came down on the landing and caught flames, killing one of the 71 passengers aboard.
In 2016 the Tara Air flight crashed while traveling on in the same direction similar to the plane which was lost on Sunday. The crash involved a newly purchased Twin Otter aircraft flying in clear weather.
