Kathmandu, Nepal, January 16, 2022: Rescuers have recovered 69 bodies from the Yeti Airline’s plane crash’s site at the gorge of Seti River as of Monday evening.
Difficult terrain has posed challenge to expedite the search operation. As the crash site is about 300-metre deep with narrow terrain, rescuers failed to reach at the bottom of the crash site to expedite the search operation.
The Civil Aviation Authority has said that identities of 41 of the 69 victims have been ascertained so far. A team of forensic experts has already reached at Pokhara to identify the victims.
The bodies of the victims will begin to airlift from Tuesday to handover the families, the Civil Aviation Authority has said. For the purpose, MI-17 helicopter of the Nepal Army has been mobilized to airlift the bodies to Kathmandu.
Likewise, the search and rescue team has recovered the black box or Flight Data Recorder of the crashed ATR 72 aircraft. It is believed that the recovered black box will help to investigate the cause behind the fatal crash.
The Yeti Airlines flight NYT 691flown from Kathmandu to Pokhara had crashed just before landing at the Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA) on Sunday morning. All the 72 people including four crew members traveling in the plane are feared dead.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority has claimed that the flight safety inspectors had found no technical faults in the aircraft. Issuing a press statement, the authority has said that daily inspection, pre-flight inspection and scheduled inspection were conducted as per the standards set by the ICAO and those recommended by the aircraft manufacturers.
