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27 January 2023
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ATR 72 aircraft crashes in Nepal, killing all 72 people on board
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Yeti Airlines Flight 691 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara in Nepal. On Sunday, 15 January 2023, the aircraft being operated on the route, an ATR 72 flown by Yeti Airlines, crashed while landing at Pokhara, killing all 72 occupants on board. It is the deadliest accident involving an ATR 72. Debris from the airliner was strewn across the crash site, including the crushed remains of passenger seats and the plane’s white-coloured fuselage as the search for survivors continued on Monday.
The flight took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10h33am NST on a scheduled 27-minute flight. It crashed on the bank of the Seti Gandaki River while on final approach to landing at Pokhara International Airport, which was opened two weeks earlier and also where the aircraft was intending to land. A video taken from the ground showed the aircraft banking steeply to the left before crashing. Another video was streamed live on Facebook by Sonu Jaiswal, a passenger on the plane, before and during the crash. The video shows passengers unaware of the situation until seconds before impact.
Nepali soldiers, police officers and APF rescue teams responded to the crash site
The crash occurred in Gandaki Province between the old Pokhara Airport and the new Pokhara International Airport. The accident resulted in the deaths of all 72 people on board and was Nepal's worst aviation accident since the crash of Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268 in 1992, the deadliest aviation accident in Nepalese domestic aviation and the deadliest accident involving an ATR 72.
According to an official at the Pokhara International Airport, air traffic control cleared the flight to land on runway 30 heading from east to west but the captain requested the opposing runway 12 heading from west to east, minutes before the crash. A Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal spokesperson said, "The weather was clear; according to preliminary information the cause of the crash is the technical issue of the plane."
Flight-tracking organisation Flightradar24 noted that during the flight the aircraft had been transmitting inaccurate speed and altitude data.
Pokhara, some 200km west of Kathmandu, is a bustling tourist town and gateway to the scenic Annapurna mountain range.
The aircraft was carrying 72 people, including four crew members. The people on board included 57 Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans and one person each from Argentina, Ireland, Australia and France.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, former pilot Terry Tozer said the aircraft could have “stalled”. “That’s an aerodynamics thaw when the speed is too low and one of the wings stops flying,” he added. “In theory that should never happen. If they had a sudden engine failure after takeoff, they should have been able to continue on the remaining engine.”
The type of aircraft involved, the ATR 72, has been used by airlines around the world for short regional flights. Introduced in the late 1980s by a French and Italian partnership, the aircraft model has been involved in several deadly accidents over the years.
In Taiwan, two accidents involving ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 aircraft in 2014 and 2015 led to the aircraft being grounded for a period.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called an emergency cabinet meeting following the crash. “The incident was tragic. The full force of the Nepali army, police has been deployed for rescue,” Dahal said. The government has also formed an investigation panel and announced a day of national mourning on Monday.
The crash is Nepal’s deadliest since 1992, when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when it plowed into a hill as it tried to land in Kathmandu.
Why did it crash?
The reason for the crash remains unclear so far. It happened amid mild and non-windy weather. Rescuers and searchers have retrieved both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the plane. Both devices were in good shape and will be sent for analysis based on the recommendation of the manufacturer, officials said. The data on the recorders are likely to help investigators determine the cause of the crash.
Sources: Al Jazeera, Wikipedia
The flight took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10h33am NST on a scheduled 27-minute flight. It crashed on the bank of the Seti Gandaki River while on final approach to landing at Pokhara International Airport, which was opened two weeks earlier and also where the aircraft was intending to land. A video taken from the ground showed the aircraft banking steeply to the left before crashing. Another video was streamed live on Facebook by Sonu Jaiswal, a passenger on the plane, before and during the crash. The video shows passengers unaware of the situation until seconds before impact.
Nepali soldiers, police officers and APF rescue teams responded to the crash site
The crash occurred in Gandaki Province between the old Pokhara Airport and the new Pokhara International Airport. The accident resulted in the deaths of all 72 people on board and was Nepal's worst aviation accident since the crash of Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268 in 1992, the deadliest aviation accident in Nepalese domestic aviation and the deadliest accident involving an ATR 72.
According to an official at the Pokhara International Airport, air traffic control cleared the flight to land on runway 30 heading from east to west but the captain requested the opposing runway 12 heading from west to east, minutes before the crash. A Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal spokesperson said, "The weather was clear; according to preliminary information the cause of the crash is the technical issue of the plane."
Flight-tracking organisation Flightradar24 noted that during the flight the aircraft had been transmitting inaccurate speed and altitude data.
Pokhara, some 200km west of Kathmandu, is a bustling tourist town and gateway to the scenic Annapurna mountain range.
The aircraft was carrying 72 people, including four crew members. The people on board included 57 Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans and one person each from Argentina, Ireland, Australia and France.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, former pilot Terry Tozer said the aircraft could have “stalled”. “That’s an aerodynamics thaw when the speed is too low and one of the wings stops flying,” he added. “In theory that should never happen. If they had a sudden engine failure after takeoff, they should have been able to continue on the remaining engine.”
The type of aircraft involved, the ATR 72, has been used by airlines around the world for short regional flights. Introduced in the late 1980s by a French and Italian partnership, the aircraft model has been involved in several deadly accidents over the years.
In Taiwan, two accidents involving ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 aircraft in 2014 and 2015 led to the aircraft being grounded for a period.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called an emergency cabinet meeting following the crash. “The incident was tragic. The full force of the Nepali army, police has been deployed for rescue,” Dahal said. The government has also formed an investigation panel and announced a day of national mourning on Monday.
The crash is Nepal’s deadliest since 1992, when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when it plowed into a hill as it tried to land in Kathmandu.
Why did it crash?
The reason for the crash remains unclear so far. It happened amid mild and non-windy weather. Rescuers and searchers have retrieved both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the plane. Both devices were in good shape and will be sent for analysis based on the recommendation of the manufacturer, officials said. The data on the recorders are likely to help investigators determine the cause of the crash.
Sources: Al Jazeera, Wikipedia
