Nepal plane crashed ‘10 to 20 seconds before landing’, no distress call: Airline
Nepal Plane Crash: At least three people have been taken to hospital but their condition is unclear, the official said.
The Yeti Airlines flight with 72 people on board crashed in Nepal just seconds before it was due to land, the carrier informed. The plane was carrying 68 passengers and four crew, airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula said, as per Bloomberg. At least three people have been taken to hospital but their condition is unclear, he added. There were also infants on board, earlier reports said.
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The flight was en route to Pokhara from capital Kathmandu and crashed “10 to 20 seconds before landing,” the airline spokesman said. There was no distress call from the cockpit before the disaster, he added.
On the rescue operations, the spokesman said that the army, air force and airport authorities are aiding in it. On the ill-fated flight, there were 15 foreigners on board including those from India, France, Australia, Ireland, Russia and Korea, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said.
The aircraft crashed into a gorge while landing at a newly opened airport. Tek Bahadur K. C., a senior administrative officer in the Kaski district, said as per news agency Reuters that he expected rescue workers to find more bodies at the bottom of the gorge.
The cause of the crash of the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft was not immediately known. The aviation authority of Nepal said the aircraft last made contact with the airport from near Seti Gorge at 10:50 a.m. before crashing.
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Meanwhile, Nepal prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal rushed to the airport after the crash and urged security personnel and the general public to help with the rescue efforts.
Pokhara is located in central Nepal and is a lakeside tourist location. In May last year, a Tara Air plane carrying 22 people from Pokhara crashed in the mountains, killing all on board.