The ATR 72, operated by private airline Yeti Airlines, crashed just before landing in the tourist city of Pokhara on January 15, one of the worst plane crashes in Nepal in 30 years.
People hold placards during a protest after a plane crash operated by Yeti Airlines, in Pokhara on January 15, 2023, in Kathmandu, Nepal, January 16, 2023. Photo: REUTERS
There were 72 people on board the twin-engine plane, including two infants, four crew members and 15 foreigners. There were no survivors of the crash.
Dipak Prasad Bastola, an aeronautical engineer and member of the investigation board, said that due to lack of awareness and lack of standard operating procedures, the pilots mistakenly cut the power.
This left the engine “idling and not generating thrust,” Bastola said. “But because of the momentum, the plane continued flying for 49 seconds before hitting the ground.” ATR is based in France and the plane’s engines were manufactured in Canada by Pratt & Whitney Canada.
It was the deadliest air accident in Nepal since 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A300 crashed into a hillside en route to Kathmandu, killing all 167 people on board.
Nearly 350 people have died since 2000 in jet or helicopter crashes in Nepal - home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest - where sudden weather changes can cause dangerous conditions.
The European Union has banned Nepalese airlines from its airspace since 2013 citing safety concerns.
Mai Anh (according to Reuters, CNA)
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