Pokhara (Nepal): Kathmandu airport official Sher Bath Thakur on Monday informed the media that the authorities have recovered the black box of the plane that crashed killing 68 people so far. The search operation at the site of the accident is underway, even as the authorities have expressed a strong possibility of more casualties.
"The black box of the crashed plane has been found," Kathmandu airport official Sher Bahadur Thakur said. A black box is a flight data recorder that records all flight information through a special algorithm.
Yeti Airlines' twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am and crashed at the Pokhara airport at around 11 am while trying to land on Sunday. The aircraft crash landed somewhere between the old airport and the new airport, as informed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). The plane was carrying a total of 68 passengers, which included 15 foreign nationals, and four crew members. The foreigners included five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina, and France.
Meanwhile, the rescue operations resumed this morning to trace four people who are still missing, DIG of the Nepal Armed Police Force, Shambhu Subedi said. The death toll was initially reported at 72, but was counted down after a revision. It has however reached 68 now -- two down from the total number of passengers onboard. The workers had repelled down a 300-meter gorge to continue the search. Rescue workers are also scouring the debris for the flight data recorder.
Also read: Nepal mourns after deadly plane crash kills at least 66
Earlier today, Nepal Army said they did not find any survivors at the site of the crash. "We haven't rescued anyone alive from the crash site," said Nepal Army Spokesperson Krishna Prasad Bhandari.
After the flight crash, Nepal's Yeti airline said that to mourn the passengers who lost their lives, the regular flights on Monday will be canceled. Yeti Airlines shared the official statement on Twitter in which it said, "In mourning for the passengers who lost their lives in the accident of Yeti Airlines 9N ANC ATR 72 500, we would like to inform you that all regular flights of Yeti Airlines for 16th January 2023 have been canceled." It's not ascertained yet what exactly caused the attack.
