68 People Killed As Yeti Airlines Plane Crashed, Nepal's Worst Air Accident In The Last 30 Years

JAKARTA - At least 68 people died Sunday when a domestic Yeti Airlines flight crashed at Pokhara in Nepal, the worst air accident in three decades in the small Himalayan nation.

The plane was flying from the capital Kathmandu to Pokhara, the country's second most populous city and gateway to the Himalayas, state media Rising Nepal reported. Pokhara is located about 129 kilometers west of Kathmandu.

The plane last made contact with Pokhara airport at around 10.50 am local time, about 18 minutes after takeoff. It then descends in the nearby Seti River Gorge. First responders from the Nepal Army and various police departments have been dispatched to the crash site, carrying out rescue operations, the civil aviation authority said in a statement, launching CNN on Jan. 16.

Hundreds of rescue workers scoured the hillside where the plane carrying 72 people crashed. Local TV footage showed rescue workers struggling around the damaged plane. Some of the ground near the crash site was scorched, with visible flames.

"Half of the plane was on the hillside," said Arun Guest, a local resident, who told Reuters he arrived at the scene minutes after the plane went down. "The other half has fallen into the canyon of the Seti river."

Khum Bahadur Chhetri, another local resident, said he watched from the roof of his house as the plane approached.

"I saw the plane vibrate, move left and right, then suddenly dive and fall into a cliff," said Chhetri.

A spokesman for Pokhara Airport said the plane crashed as it approached the airport, adding that "the plane was traveling at 12,500 feet and was making a normal descent." The weather on Sunday is sunny.

Seventy-two people - four crew members and 68 passengers - were on board the ATR 72 operated by Yeti Airlines Nepal when it crashed, said Yeti Airlines spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula.

Meanwhile, Nepal's civil aviation authority reported that thirty-seven were men, 25 women, three children, and three infants.

Authorities detailed that all 53 passengers and four crew members on the plane that crashed were Nepalese. Fifteen foreign nationals were also on board the flight, consisting of five Indians, four Russians, two Koreans, and one each of Australian, Argentinian, French, and Irish nationals.

The search process yesterday was stopped because night fell. The plan is for the search to continue on Monday, said Army spokesman Krishna Prasad Bhandari, adding that hundreds of first responders were still searching for the other four people who had not been found.

The Worst Since 1992

Sunday's plane crash was Nepal's deadliest air accident since September 1992, the Aviation Safety Network database shows, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A300 crashed into a hillside while approaching Kathmandu, killing all 167 people on board.

In July 1992, a fatal accident also occurred, involving Thai Airways and leaving 113 people dead.

Last May, a Tara Air flight carrying 22 people crashed into a Himalayan mountain at an altitude of about 14,500 feet. It was the country's 19th plane crash in 10 years and the 10th fatal accident over the same period, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.

The European Union has banned Nepalese airlines from its airspace since 2013, citing security concerns.

The Himalayan nation of Nepal, home to eight of the 14 highest mountains in the world, including Everest, has a record for air accidents. The weather can change suddenly and the airstrips are usually located in mountainous areas that are difficult to reach.