'The hope of finding anyone alive is nil', Nepal rescue team admits

‘The hope of finding anyone alive is nil’: Nepal rescue team’s grim admission after footage emerges of terrified passengers’ last moments as plane crashes into the ground, killing ‘all 72’ on board

Yeti Airlines ATR 72 plummeted into the steep gorge and smashed into pieces
Crash happened as plane approached central city of Pokhara Sunday morning
The cause was not yet known but a video on social media showed the plane banking sharply to the left as it approached the airport, before an explosion

Hopes of finding any survivors after a plane with 72 people on board crashed in Nepal are now ‘nil’, a senior local official said on Monday.

The Yeti Airlines ATR 72 plummeted into the steep gorge, smashed into pieces and burst into flames as it approached the central city of Pokhara on Sunday morning, in Nepal’s worst aviation disaster since 1992.

The cause was not yet known but searchers on Monday found both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. The data on the recorders may help investigators determine what caused the fatal crash.

A video on social media – verified by agencies – showed the twin-propeller aircraft banking suddenly and sharply to the left as it approached Pokhara airport. A loud explosion followed. Another video showed the final moments on-board.

‘We have collected 68 bodies so far. We are searching for four more bodies… We pray for a miracle. But, the hope of finding anyone alive is nil,’ Tek Bahadur KC, chief district officer in Taksi where the plane crashed on Sunday, said today.

Hopes of finding any survivors after a plane with 72 people on board crashed in Nepal are now ‘nil’, a senior local official said on Monday. Pictured: Rescuers scour the crash site in the wreckage of a passenger plane in Pokhara on Monday

Mr Bahadur’s comments came after the emergence of a video – broadcast on Facebook Live – appeared to show the final moments of passengers on board.

Footage appeared to show the inside of the aircraft as it prepared to land in Pokhara, moments before the disaster. The video, which was purportedly taken by an Indian man called Sonu Jaiswal, shows passengers smiling as the plane flies over houses.

The Yeti Airlines logo is visible over Mr Jaiswal’s shoulder and a Nepalese insurance advert can be seen on the airline’s tray. The clip continues, before the camera suddenly starts to shake and passengers are heard shouting. It then goes black with a loud bang, before flames light up the frame.

Nepal, which has a poor record on air safety, observed a day of mourning on Monday for the victims of the crash.

Debris from the airliner was strewn across the crash site, including the mangled remains of passenger seats and the plane’s white-coloured fuselage.

Rescue workers had rushed to the site after the crash, and tried to put out the raging fires that had sent thick black smoke into the sky.

Soldiers used ropes and stretchers to retrieve bodies from the 1,000-foot deep ravine late into the night, with recovery efforts resuming on Monday.

Footage appears to show the plane flying over houses in the town in the central region of Nepal moments before the crash (pictured left). Right: A passenger films a video as the plane flies over houses as it comes in to land

Footage appears to show the flight descending towards the new airport moments before the crash on Sunday

There were 72 people on board the aircraft, which included 15 foreigners, including five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one passenger each from Argentina, Australia, France and Ireland. The rest were Nepalis. At least 68 are known to have died after it crashed into the gorge near the city’s new airport.

One of the passengers feared dead is Myron William Love, a teacher and avid traveller from Sydney. Mr Love’s family were said to be still holding out hope he survived the crash amid unconfirmed reports several people had survived.

Mr Love was among 15 non-Nepalese nationals on board the domestic flight from Kathmandu, along with five Indians, four Russians, one Irish national, two South Koreans, one French national and an Argentinian.

A relative of Mr Love declined to comment until Australian embassy officials confirm his fate. ‘We’re not saying anything until the consulate has confirmed the body.’

‘Incredibly sad news out of Nepal of a plane crashing with many passengers on board,’ Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday, adding that his government was seeking information about the Australian national on board.

Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority said it is not known what caused the disaster as of yet. The aviation authority said the aircraft last made contact with the airport from near Seti Gorge at 10.50am local time (5.05am GMT) before crashing.

One of the passengers feared dead is Myron William Love (pictured), a teacher and avid traveller from Sydney . Mr Love’s family were said to be still holding out hope he survived the crash amid unconfirmed reports several people had survived

The ATR 72 was on a flight from the capital Kathmandu and plunged into the gorge between Pokhara’s brand-new international airport and the old domestic one shortly before 11:00 am (0515 GMT) on Sunday.

‘I was walking when I heard a loud blast, like a bomb went off,’ said witness Arun Tamu, 44, who was around 500 metres away and who live-streamed video of the blazing wreckage on social media.

‘A few of us rushed to see if we can rescue anybody. I saw at least two women were breathing. The fire was getting very intense and it made it difficult for us to approach closer,’ the former soldier told AFP.

It was unclear if anyone on the ground was injured.

‘Our first thoughts are with all the individuals affected by this,’ the plane’s France-based manufacturer ATR said in a statement on Sunday. ‘ATR specialists are fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer.’

A witness said he saw the aircraft spinning violently in the air after it began descending to land, watching from the terrace of his house.

Local resident Bishnu Tiwari, who rushed to the crash site near the Seti River to help search for bodies, said the rescue efforts were hampered by thick smoke and a raging fire.

A rescue team recovers the body of a victim from the site of the plane crash of a Yeti Airlines operated aircraft, in Pokhara, Nepal January 16, 2023

A rescue team works to recover the body of a victim from the site of the plane crash of a Yeti Airlines operated aircraft, in Pokhara, Nepal January 16, 2023

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‘The flames were so hot that we couldn’t go near the wreckage. I heard a man crying for help, but because of the flames and smoke we couldn’t help him,’ Tiwari said.

‘Half of the plane is on the hillside,’ said Arun Tamu, a local resident, who told Reuters he reached the site minutes after the plane went down. ‘The other half has fallen into the gorge of the Seti river.’

Khum Bahadur Chhetri said he watched from the roof of his house as the flight approached.

‘I saw the plane trembling, moving left and right, and then suddenly its nose dived and it went into the gorge,’ Chhetri told Reuters, adding that local residents took two passengers to a hospital.

Images and videos shared on Twitter showed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site, about a mile away from Pokhara International Airport. The aircraft’s fuselage was split into multiple parts that were scattered down the gorge.

Firefighters carried bodies, some burned beyond recognition, to hospitals where grief-stricken relatives had assembled.

At Kathmandu airport, family members appeared distraught as they were escorted in and at times exchanged heated words with officials as they waited for information.

Among those killed was Russian travel blogger Elena Banduro, who had posted the message ‘Go to Nepal’ excitedly before the flight.

Her social media was today full of messages of condolences, and she was described as ‘the brightest, kindest soul we knew’.

Three other Russians died on the flight, named as Viktoria Altunina, Yuri Lugin and Viktor Lagin.

Earlier the Russian ambassador to Nepal, Alexei Novikov, confirmed the death of four compatriots aboard the crashed plane.

‘Unfortunately, four citizens of the Russian Federation died,’ he said.

‘We are in constant contact with the Nepalese authorities and will provide all necessary assistance to the relatives of the dead Russians.’

Family members and relatives of victims who died in a Yeti Airlines plane crash, weep outside a hospital in Pokhara on January 16, 2023

Rescue teams work to retrieve bodies from the wreckage of the crash of a Yeti Airlines operated aircraft, in Pokhara, Nepal January 16, 2023

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who rushed to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu after the crash, set up a panel to investigate the accident.

‘The incident was tragic. The full force of the Nepali army, police has been deployed for rescue,’ he said. ‘We expect to recover more bodies,’ said army spokesman Krishna Bhandari. ‘The plane has broken into pieces.’

Nepal’s air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas, as well as ferrying foreign mountain climbers.

The sector has been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance. The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over safety concerns.

Nepal also has some of the world’s most remote and trickiest runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge for even accomplished pilots.

The weather is also notoriously capricious and hard to forecast, particularly in the mountains, where thick fog can suddenly obscure whole mountains from view.

Nepal’s deadliest aviation accident took place in 1992, when all 167 people on a Pakistan International Airlines jet died when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu.

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