Himalayas
Plane crash in Nepal: black box found
Debris from the crashed passenger plane belonging to local carrier Yeti Airlines. photo
© Krishna Mani Baral/AP/dpa
The machine was on its way to land when it suddenly crashed. 72 people were on board. Most of the dead have now been found.
The black box was found after the plane crash in Nepal that killed dozens. In addition, the bodies of 69 of the 72 people on board have now been found, said the coordinator of the rescue work of the German Press Agency. The bodies would be handed over to relatives after identification.
Rescue work on the wreck in and around a 300-meter-deep gorge in the city of Pokhara and investigations into the cause of the accident are ongoing.
The machine crashed on Sunday morning on the approximately half-hour flight between the capital Kathmandu and the second largest city Pokhara on the landing approach, according to the Nepalese aviation authority.
Repeated plane crashes in Nepal
Pokhara is the starting point for numerous trekking tours in the Himalayas, including to the Annapurna massif, a popular hiking region. It is one of the worst air traffic accidents in the poor country in years.
Plane crashes are common in Nepal. Among other things, this has to do with the fact that many of the world’s highest mountains are located there, including Mount Everest, and weather conditions can change quickly. From the EU’s point of view, the safety supervision by the Nepalese aviation authorities is also insufficient. Because of safety concerns, Nepalese airlines are therefore not allowed to fly in EU airspace. The airline Yeti Airlines, for which the accident machine was in use, is on an EU blacklist due to safety concerns.