Nepal Crash: Pokhara Air Crash Is Latest In Long Line Of Air Disasters, Here Are Recent Air Crashes

A Nepali passenger plane with 72 people onboard crashed in Nepal's Pokhara on Sunday. Sixty-eight bodies have been recovered from the site of the accident. 

The Yeti Airlines plane was carrying 68 passengers, including five Indians, and four crew members. It crashed during landing at the Pokhara airport.

This is the second major aviation disaster in Nepal within a year's time. On May 30, 2022, a Tara Air passenger plane crashed in the Mustang region of Nepal, killing all 22 persons onboard. 

The Yeti Airlines aircraft fell into a river gorge in Pokhara during the landing. The tough terrain at the site of crash made rescue work difficult. 

Here we tell you everything we know so far about the Pokhara plane crash and also list the major air accidents in recent past. 

What we know of Pokhara air crash

Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 10:33 am and crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport at Pokhara minutes before landing, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

Though 68 bodies have so far been recovered, the identification has not yet taken place. 

Of the 68 passengers onboard, 15 were foreign nationals, including five Indians. The other foreign nationals were four Russians, two Koreans, an Australian, a French, an Argentine and an Israeli. The Indians onboard have been identified as Abhisekh Kushwaha, 25, Bishal Sharma, 22, Anil Kumar Rajbhar, 27, Sonu Jaiswal, 35, and Sanjaya Jaiswal, according to a Yeti Airlines official.

Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 claimed that the Yeti Airlines aircraft was 15 years old and equipped with an 'old transponder with unreliable data'.

There was no adverse weather in Pokhara at the time of accident. Videos of the plane's final moments on social media show a sunny and clear sky.

Yeti Airlines Spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula said the plane's engine was in a good condition.

He said, "The weather in Pokhara was absolutely fine and the engine of the aircraft was also in good condition. We don't know what has happened to the airplane."

The latest in the long line of air accidents

The Pokhara plane crash is the long line of aviation disasters in recent past. 

Here are some of the air accidents in recent years:

May 30, 2022: A Tara Air DHC-6 Twin Otter crashed in the Mustang region of Nepal, killing all 22 people on board.

March 21, 2022: A China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane crashed in the mountains of Guangxi near Guangzhou, China, leading to daeths of all 133 people on board.

January 9, 2021: A Boeing 737, operated by Sriwijaya Air, crashed into the Java Sea minutes after taking off from Jakarta. All 62 people on board, including seven children and three babies, were killed.

August 7, 2020:  An aircraft of Air India crashed at the Kozhikode (Calicut) International airport in Kerala. The plane coming from Dubai had overshot the runway at Kozhikode airport and later broke into pieces. There were 186 people onboard the ill-fated aircraft. A total of 21 people, including pilot and co-pilot, were killed in the mishap.     

May 22, 2020: An Airbus A320, belonging to Pakistan International Airlines, carrying 97 passengers and eight members of crew crashed in Pakistan's Karachi. It is considered to be one of the most catastrophic aviation disasters in the country's aviation history.

January 8, 2020: A Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 crashed shortly after taking off from the Iranian capital Tehran, killing all 176 passengers and crew members on board. The incident took place amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, and the Iranian government eventually admitted it had downed the plane "unintentionally". 

March 10, 2019: An Ethiopian Airlines with 157 people onboard crashed six minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa, killing everyone. The victims were from 30 different countries.

October 29, 2018: A Boeing flight operated by Lion Air crashed into the Java sea shortly after taking off from Indonesia's capital Jakarta. All 189 passengers and crew were killed in the air tragedy. 

May 18, 2018: A Boeing 737 passenger plane crashed shortly after take-off from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, killing 112 people. One passenger survived.

April 2018: A tragedy from Algerian capital Algires was reported in which a military plane cashed shortly after take off, killing all 257 people on board. Most of the dead were soldiers and their family members.

March 12, 2018: A plane carrying 71 passengers and crew crashed at Nepal's Kathmandu airport, killing more than 50 people.

February 18, 2018: A passenger plane crashed into the Zagros mountains in Iran killing all 66 people on board. The Aseman Airlines ATR turboprop crashed about an hour after taking off in the capital, Tehran, heading for the south-western city of Yasuj.

February 11, 2018: A Russian passenger plane crashed minutes after leaving Moscow's Domodedovo airport with 71 people on board, killing everyone.

December 25, 2016: A Russian military Tu-154 jet airliner crashed in the Black Sea, with the loss of all 92 passengers and crew. The plane came down soon after take-off from an airport near the city of Sochi. It was carrying artistes due to give a concert for Russian troops in Syria, along with journalists and military.

December 7, 2016: A domestic plane of Pakistan International Airlines with 48 people on board crashed in the northern region of the country, killing all of them.     

November 28, 2016: A plane carrying the football team of the Brazilian club Chapecoense ran out of fuel and crashed near Medellin, Colombia, killing 71 people, including most of the players and management.

May 19, 2016: An EgyptAir flight was reported missing between Paris and Cairo crashed, with 66 people on board.

March, 2016: A FlyDubai Boeing 737-800 crashed in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, killing all 62 people on board.     

October 31, 2015: A plane of Russian airline Kogalymavia crashed over central Sinai some 22 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board. 

June 30, 2015: A military military transport plane Hercules C-130 of Indonesia crashed into a residential area of Medan. The army said that all 122 people on board died, along with at least 19 on the ground.

March 4, 2015: A Germanwings Airbus A320 airliner crashed in the French Alps near Digne, on a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. All 148 people on board were feared dead.

(With PTI inputs)