The plane’s fuselage was cut up into a number of elements, and movies confirmed billowing smoke as rescuers looked for survivors.
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Scores of rescue staff and onlookers crowded close to a steep gorge outdoors a resort city in central Nepal the place a regional passenger plane crashed Sunday, as rescuers combed the wreckage on the sting of the cliff and in the ravine under.
So far, 68 individuals have been confirmed useless after a regional passenger plane with 72 aboard crashed right into a gorge whereas touchdown at a newly opened airport in the resort city of Pokhara, in response to an announcement posted by the nation’s Civil Aviation Authority to Twitter. It’s the nation’s deadliest airplane accident in three a long time.
It was not instantly clear what prompted the accident.
A witness stated he noticed the plane spinning violently in the air after it started to aim a touchdown, watching from the terrace of his home. Gaurav Gurung stated the plane fell nose-first in the direction of its left after which crashed into the gorge.
At the crash web site close to the Seti River, practically a mile away from Pokhara International Airport, rescuers sprayed fireplace hoses and heaved ropes down to a different smoldering a part of the wreck under. Some our bodies, burned past recognition, have been carried by firefighters to hospitals, the place grief-stricken kin had assembled. At Kathmandu airport, relations appeared distraught as they have been escorted in and at occasions alternate heated phrases with officers as they waited for information.
“The plane caught fire after the crash. There was smoke everywhere,” Gurung stated.
The aviation authority stated the plane final made contact with the airport from close to Seti Gorge at 10:50 a.m. earlier than crashing.
The twin-engine ATR 72 plane, operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines, was flying from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara, a 27-minute flight. It was carrying 68 passengers together with 15 overseas nationals, in addition to 4 crew members, Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority stated in a press release. The foreigners included 5 Indians, 4 Russians, two South Koreans, and one every from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France. No survivors have been discovered but.
Tek Bahadur Ok. C., a senior administrative officer in the Kaski district, stated he anticipated rescue staff to seek out extra our bodies on the backside of the gorge.
Images and movies shared on Twitter confirmed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash web site as rescue staff, Nepali troopers, and crowds of individuals gathered across the wreckage of the plane to seek out survivors. The plane’s fuselage was cut up into a number of elements that have been scattered down the gorge.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who rushed to the airport after the crash, arrange a panel to research the accident.
”The incident was tragic. The full pressure of the Nepali military, police has been deployed for rescue,” he stated.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry stated in a press release that it’s nonetheless making an attempt to substantiate the destiny of two South Korean passengers and has despatched workers to the scene. The Russian Ambassador to Nepal, Alexei Novikov, confirmed the loss of life of 4 Russian residents who have been on board the plane.
The sort of plane concerned, the ATR 72, has been utilized by a number of airways all over the world for brief regional flights. Introduced in the late Eighties by a French and Italian partnership, the plane mannequin has been concerned in a number of lethal accidents through the years. In 2018, an ATR 72 operated by Iran’s Aseman Airlines crashed in a foggy, mountainous area, killing all 65 aboard.
In Taiwan two earlier accidents involving ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 aircrafts occurred simply months aside.
In July 2014, a TransAsia ATR 72-500 flight crashed whereas making an attempt to land on the scenic Penghu archipelago between Taiwan and China, killing 48 individuals onboard. An ATR 72-600 operated by the identical Taiwanese airline crashed shortly after takeoff in Taipei in February 2015 after one among its engines failed and the second was shut down, apparently by mistake.
The 2015 crash, captured in dramatic footage that confirmed the plane placing a taxi because it hurtled uncontrolled, killed 43, and prompted authorities to floor all Taiwanese-registered ATR 72s for a while. TransAsia ceased all flights in 2016 and later went out of enterprise.
ATR recognized the plane concerned in Sunday’s crash as an ATR 72-500 in a tweet. According to plane monitoring information from flightradar24.com, the plane was 15 years outdated and “equipped with an old transponder with unreliable data.” It was beforehand flown by India’s Kingfisher Airlines and Thailand’s Nok Air earlier than Yeti took it over in 2019, in response to data on Airfleets.web.
Yeti Airlines has a fleet of six ATR72-500 planes, firm spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula stated.
Pokhara, positioned 125 miles west of Kathmandu, is the gateway to the Annapurna (*60*), a well-liked climbing path in the Himalayas. The metropolis’s new worldwide airport started operations solely two weeks in the past. It was constructed with Chinese building and monetary assist. The Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Chen Song, stated in a tweet he was “very shocked” to study of the accident.
“At this difficult time, our thoughts are with Nepali people. I would like to express my deep condolences to the victims, and sincere sympathies to the bereaved families,” he wrote.
Sunday’s crash is Nepal’s deadliest since 1992, when all 167 individuals aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane have been killed when it plowed right into a hill because it tried to land in Kathmandu.
Nepal, dwelling to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, together with Mount Everest, has a historical past of air crashes. According to the Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety database, there have been 42 deadly plane crashes in Nepal since 1946.
Last 12 months, 22 individuals died when a plane crashed on a mountainside in Nepal. In 2016, a Tara Air Twin Otter flying from Pokhara to Kathmandu crashed after takeoff, killing all 23 individuals aboard.
In 2012, an Agni Air plane flying from Pokhara to Jomsom crashed, killing 15 individuals. Six individuals survived. In 2014, a Nepal Airlines plane flying from Pokhara to Jumla crashed, killing all 18 on board.
In 1992, all 167 individuals aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane have been killed when it plowed right into a hill because it tried to land in Kathmandu.
The European Union has banned airways from Nepal from flying into the 27-nation bloc since 2013, citing weak security requirements. In 2017, the International Civil Aviation Organization cited enhancements in Nepal’s aviation sector, however the EU continues to demand administrative reforms.
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