68 on board an ATR 72 dead after crash in Nepal

In what appears to be Nepal’s third-most deadly airplane crash, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop aircraft operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines has crashed in a gorge just outside the town of Pokhara in Central Nepal. Initial reports are that 68 bodies have been recovered, while four of the remaining 72 passengers and crew have yet to be found.

Search efforts have been called off for the day and will resume at first light on Monday, January 16. According to reports, 37 men have died along with 25 women, three children and three infants. 53 of the passengers and all four crew members were Nepali. Fifteen foreign nationals were on the plane as well: five were Indian, four were Russian and two were Korean, with one citizen from Australia, Argentina, France and Ireland.

Pokhara is a popular tourist destination and the flight from Kathmandu covers a distance of approximately 90 miles (140 km). Nepal has a poor safety record and aircraft operated by Nepalese carriers are banned from EU airspace. The two larger crashes occurred in July and September 1992, involving aircraft operated by Thai Airways and Pakistan International Airlines which left 113 and 167 people dead, respectively.

One of the problems with flying in Nepal is that its weather can change suddenly, and airstrips are typically located in treacherous difficult-to-reach mountainous areas. Last May, a Tara Air flight carrying 22 people crashed into a Himalayan mountain at an altitude of about 14,500 feet. That was the Nepal’s 19th plane crash in ten years and its tenth fatal crash during the same period, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.

Nepal’s Yeti Airlines said it was cancelling all regular flights on Monday, January 16, in mourning for the victims of the crash.