A Yeti Airlines aircraft crashed while nearing the runway at Pokhara International Airport in Nepal on January 15, 2023. The 72-seater aircraft crashed into the Seti river gorge between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport about 10 seconds before landing at around 11 am. It was carrying 68 passengers and four crew members. No one has been reported alive yet.

Nepal, which houses eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest, has had a fraught record of aviation accidents, partly due to its sudden weather changes and airstrips located in hard-to-access rocky terrains. Pokhara, 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Kathmandu in Nepal, is a popular tourist destination known as a gateway to the Annapurna Circuit, a popular trail in the Himalayas.

Pokhara International Airport is also located in a difficult terrain which is making rescue operations an uphill task. Incidentally, the airport was inaugurated just two weeks ago by Nepal’s newly-appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. The airport is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation.

The Nepal government has ordered a probe into the plane crash accident. It has set up a five-member panel, headed by its former aviation secretary Nagendra Ghimire, even as the Pokhara International Airport was closed for all incoming and outgoing flights for at least a day. The Nepal government has asked Nepali authorities to conduct technical inspections for all domestic flights.

As per a Reuters report, at least 309 people have died since 2000, either in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal.

A look at some of the aviation accidents in Nepal:

2023: Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 passenger aircraft took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am and crashed while nearing the runway at Pokhara International Airport in Nepal on January 15. The 72-seater aircraft crashed into the Seti river gorge between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport while landing around 11 am. All 72 people on board are feared dead.

2022: Tara Air passenger plane with 22 people on board, including four Indians from Mumbai, went missing in the mountainous region of the Himalayan nation minutes after taking off from Pokhara on May 29. The Twin Otter 9N-AET plane took off at 10:15 am from Pokhara and lost contact with the control tower 15 minutes later. No survivors were found. The plane was on its way to Jomsom, a popular tourist town in central Nepal.

2016: Another Tara Air Flight 193, travelling from Pokhara to Jomsom, crashed near Dana village. The plane, carrying 23 people, went missing on February 24, 2016, eight minutes after take-off. No one survived the crash.

2018: On March 12, 2018, a 76-seater US-Bangla Airlines Bombardier Q400 aircraft, travelling from Dhaka to Kathmandu, crashed while landing at Tribhuvan International Airport. Of the 71 people onboard, 51 died. The crash occurred due to the “pilot’s error and loss of situational awareness".

2012: A domestic passenger flight by Sita Air crashed during an emergency landing at Kathmandu on September 28. All 19 people on board were killed in the plane crash. The plane, which was going to Tenzing-Hillary Airport from Kathmandu, was trying to make an emergency landing due to technical issues.

2012: In the same year, the Dornier 228 aircraft of Agni Air crashed near Jomsom Airport on May 14. The plane was flying from Pokhara with 21 people onboard. Of the 21 people on board, 15 passengers lost their lives, including the pilots.

2011: Twenty-two people onboard a Beechcraft 1900D aircraft of Buddha Air were killed when the plane crashed near Lalitpur on September 25. Ten Indian nationals were among those killed in the crash.

2010: A DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft of Tara Air crashed on December 15, 2010, while flying from Lamidanda to Kathmandu, killing 22 people onboard.

2010: An Agni Air Flight 101, flying from Kathmandu and Lukla, went missing after take-off and was later found to have crashed, killing all 14 passengers onboard.

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First Published:Jan 15, 2023 3:55 PM IST