At least 68 people were killed when a Nepalese passenger plane with 72 people on board, including 10 foreigners, crashed into a river gorge on Sunday while landing at the Pokhara airport and 41 bodies have been recovered, according to media reports.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am. While landing at the Pokhara airport, the aircraft crashed on the bank of Seti River between the old airport and the new airport. There were a total of 68 passengers and four crew members onboard.
According to reports, around 10 out of the 68 passengers on flight were foreign nationals. Five of them were Indians.
The South Asian country has had a history of deadly plane crashes.
Here are five instances of deadly plane crashes that occurred in Nepal in the past:
1) Tara Air crash, May 29, 2022 (22 killed)
The turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET plane belonging to Tara Air, a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines, took off at 9:55 am from Pokhara and lost contact with air control about 12 minutes later at 10:07 am.
The Canadian-built plane, flying from the city of Pokhara to the popular tourist town Jomsom in central Nepal, was carrying four Indian nationals, two Germans and 13 Nepali passengers, besides a three-member Nepali crew.
The plane crashed in mountainous Mustang district on Sunday. All 22 people onboard, including four Indians, were killed in this crash.
Pieces of the wreckage of the aircraft were found after nearly 20 hours since the plane went missing.
This handout photograph taken on May 30, 2022 and released by the Nepal Police shows the wreckage of a Twin Otter aircraft, operated by Nepali carrier Tara Air, laying on a mountainside in Mustang, a day after it crashed | (Photo by Man Bahadur Basyal / Nepal Police / AFP)
2) US-Bangla Airlines crash, March 12, 2018 (51 killed)
An aircraft of the US-Bangla Airlines with 67 passengers and four members crash-landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in capital Kathmandu. 51 people were killed in this unfortunate crash.
TIA spokesperson Prem Nath Thakur said the 78-seater Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft veered off the runway while landing at 2.20 p.m. and crashed onto a ground near the airport, catching fire, the Kathmandu Post reported.
Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Sanjiv Gautam said the plane lost control when it attempted to land on the runway.
Photos and video posted on social media showed smoke rising from the airport runway.
All flights in and out of the Tribhuvan International Airport were cancelled.
3) Tara Air crash, February 24, 2016 (23 killed)
A scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Tara Air connected Pokhara with Jomsom in Nepal. On February 24, 2016, eight minutes after takeoff, the flight's aircraft, a Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter, vanished while carrying 23 passengers. The wreckage was discovered hours later close to the Dana village in the Myagdi District. There were no living people. The disaster was the deadliest for Tara Air.
The final accident report, 17 months later, read: "The Commission concludes that the probable cause of this accident was the fact that despite of unfavourable weather conditions, the crew's repeated decision to enter into cloud during VFR flight and their deviation from the normal track due to loss of situational awareness aggravated by spatial disorientation leading to CFIT accident."
4) Royal Nepal Airlines crash, July 27, 2000 (25 killed)
A domestic passenger flight de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Royal Nepal Airlines from Bajhang Airport to Dhangadhi Airport crashed on July 27, 2000, in Nepal. In Jogbuda, Dadeldhura District, the wreckage of the aeroplane with the registration 9N-ABP was discovered.
The disaster claimed the lives of everyone aboard, including the three crew members and 22 passengers, three of whom were young children. They were all native Nepalis.
Wreckage from flight 183 at the crash site | Wikipedia
5) Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268 crash, September 28, 1992, (167 killed)
On September 28, 1992, Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268, an Airbus A300 with the registration AP-BCP, crashed as it approached Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport. All 167 passengers on board died. The worst disaster to ever take place in Nepal was Flight 268. It was also the worst crash for Pakistan International Airlines.
At the time of impact, eye witnesses near the accident site confirmed that there was little to no wind, rain, and no thunderstorms in the area. Investigators found no technical problems documented for the A300 and, after considering it as a cause, subsequently ruled out terrorism.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here.  To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
