At least 69 people died and three others remained unaccounted for as a Yeti Airlines plane (call sign 9N-ANC), en route to Pokhara from Kathmandu, crashed at the Seti gorge before touchdown at the Pokhara Regional International Airport on Sunday morning. There were 68 passengers and four crew members on board the plane. Among the passengers, 53 were Nepalis, five Indian nationals, four Russians, two Koreans and one each from Ireland, Argentina, Australia and France, Yeti Airlines said in a press release. There were 37 males, 25 females, three children and as many infants onboard along with the crew members: Kamal KC, Anju Khatiwada, Srijana Hongchun and Osin Ale Magar.

Captain KC was piloting the ATR 72 500 aircraft that crashed into the gorge located between the old airport and the newly-opened international airport.

“The aircraft was last in communication with the Pokhara Regional International Airport at 10:50 in the Seti gorge,” the statement read. Anil Kumar Shahi, assistant chief district officer at the District Administration Office, Kaski, said at least 37 bodies had been sent to Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences for post-mortem. Security agencies and firefighters were conducting search and rescue efforts till late into the evening. Plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site were seen in the images and videos posted on social media platforms. A video taken just before the crash showed the aircraft turning to its side before the crash. Officials said the pilots had not reported any technical problem to the control room before the crash and the weather was also clear.  But according to some reports the 15-year-old plane was equipped with an “old transponder with unreliable data”. Sunday’s plane crash is the biggest so far in the domestic sector. On 12 July 1969, 35 people died when a domestic flight crashed near Hetauda. The Yeti crash comes merely a fortnight after the inauguration of the new airport in Pokhara. Buddha Air, Shree Airlines, Yeti Airlines, and Guna Air had started conducting daily flights to and from the new airport. This is the second air crash of Yeti in eight months. On May 29, 2022, a plane owned by Tara Air, a subsidiary of Yeti, crashed shortly after take-off from Pokhara, killing 22 people. Nation mourns After the air crash, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal gathered detailed information on the plane crash from the Rescue Coordination Center at the Tribhuvan International Airport, including technical and other possible reasons behind the crash, the PM's Secretariat stated. An emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers has formed a five-member committee under former government secretary Nagendra Ghimire to investigate the disaster. The meeting declared Monday (Jan 16) a public holiday to mourn the loss of lives. Meanwhile, Yeti Airlines also canceled all its flights scheduled for Monday. Prez extends sorrow President Bidya Devi Bhandari has extended tributes to the victims of the crash and condolences to the bereaved families. “I am shocked by the news about the plane crash in Pokhara. I extend heartfelt tributes to all those passengers and crew members killed in the crash and offer heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families,” the president tweeted. Nepali Congress President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba expressed sorrow over the crash, urging the government to ensure prompt and effective rescue efforts and directing cadres of the party to get involved in rescue works. Air safety in question? The air crash occurred at a time when the French Civil Aviation Authority had expressed commitment to taking initiatives for removing Nepal from the European Union's air safety list. The European Commission (EC) has imposed a blanket ban on Nepali airlines entering into European airspace in 2013, meaning Nepal's airlines cannot fly to European countries. The UN aviation regulatory body, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), has blacklisted Nepal since 2013 calling it unsafe, citing three plane crashes – one in 2011 and two in 2012 as the bases for the ban on Nepali airlines. Technical inspection necessary Sunday’s emergency Cabinet meeting instructed all airline operators to conduct mandatory technical tests to prevent accidents in domestic flights. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal will do necessary inspections. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Bishnu Poudel said: “We believe the decision will play a role in preventing air crashes.” In May 2022, CAAN had come up with a more stringent flight permit rule, saying that clear weather throughout the route is a requirement to conduct a flight. But the airline operators had described the rule as impractical. ‘Conduct proper probe’ ApEx caught up with Rajan Pokhrel, former director-general, CAAN, to talk about the Yeti crash and its impact on Nepal’s aviation sector. How will today’s crash affect the tourism industry? Today’s plane crash will have an impact on the tourism industry, which was just reviving after the coronavirus pandemic. It has raised questions about air safety in Nepal. A total of 15 foreigners have died in the crash. Such air crashes give a negative message. Will today’s crash impact the ICAO’s decision? Previous crashes occurred in rural areas. But today’s crash occurred in a city. This will have an impact on the European Union’s decision on a blanket ban on Nepali airlines entering European airspace and the ICAO’s blacklist. The crash shows we need to make our air space safer. I think the EU and ICAO will again review their decisions. What may have caused the crash? It was the same aircraft that had already done a demo flight in the newly constructed airport. The airport is bigger and has proper space for takeoff and landing. A proper investigation is necessary to establish the cause of the crash.