Although incidents of fights and heated moments during flight might have become common over the past few days, the incident of a plane crash is one of the last events anyone of us would wish to hear about, considering its fatality. However, now in an extremely sad turn of events, at least 68 people were killed on 15th January 2023 when a domestic Yeti Airlines flight crashed in Pokhara in Nepal. There were 68 passengers and 4 crew members. Apart from the 53 Nepali passengers and 4 crew , there were fifteen foreign nationals on the plane as well: five were Indian, four were Russian and two were Korean & the rest were individual citizens of Australia, Argentina, France and Ireland.

The country's Civil Aviation Authority said that it is the worst air crash in three decades in Nepal. The aircraft had been flying from Kathmandu in Nepal to Pokhara, the country’s second-most populous city and a gateway to the Himalayas. The plane was last in contact with Pokhara Airport at about 10:50 a.m about 18 minutes after taking off. It then went down in the nearby Seti River Gorge. Nepal Army and various police departments have been deployed to the crash site and are carrying out a rescue operation. A video clip on social media appeared to show the moments before the aircraft finally crashed. The film, which appears to be taken from the rooftop of a house in Pokhara, shows the plane flying low over a populated area and rolling on its side before the aircraft is no longer visible in the clip. A loud explosion can be heard at the end of the video. A video of an Indian who was live on facebook is making the rounds of social media, opens with shots of passengers sitting inside the plane and the city below seen from the window as the plane circles before landing. Suddenly there is an explosion, and the screen goes topsy-turvy. The final few seconds show a horrifying fire outside the window and cries of distraught passengers can be heard. 

The weather had been clear, and it was not immediately clear what caused the crash, according to Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority. At least one witness reported hearing cries for help from within the fiery wreck. Bishnu Tiwari, a local who rushed to the crash site to help search for bodies, said the rescue efforts were hampered by thick smoke and a raging fire. A five-member committee has also been formed to investigate the cause of the crash.  The committee must submit a report to the government within 45 days. The government declared Monday 16th January 2023 a public holiday to mourn the victims. Nepal’s Yeti Airlines said it was canceling all regular flights on 16th January 2023, in mourning for the victims of the crash. Moreover, world leaders along with Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expressed their condolences over the accident. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin both conveyed their condolences, along with Australia’s ambassador to Nepal.

Also, if you don’t already know, Nepal's air transport sector is known for tragic accidents due to poor maintenance, insufficient training, and lax standards. The country also has some of the world's most remote and tricky runways, with approaches flanked by towering mountains that challenge even a well trained set of pilots. Last year, a plane operated by Nepali carrier Tara Air crashed shortly after takeoff from Pokhara in Nepal, killing 22 people. In 2019, a small plane went off the runway while taking off near Mount Everest, hitting two helicopters and killing three people. In 2018, a flight from Bangladesh's Dhaka crash-landed at  Kathmandu airport, skidding into a football field where it burst into flames. Fifty-one people were killed. There have been many such incidents. What do you think about this sad and tragic incident and these back to back to plane crashes in the Nepal’s aviation industry? Do mention your thoughts about this in the comment section below.

Tags

• Nepal
• Plane Crash
• 68 People
• Died
• Killed
• India

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