- Nepal’s Yeti Airlines
- ATR 72 Aircraft
Tragically, 68 people have been confirmed dead after a regional passenger plane with 72 passengers on board crashed into a gorge while attempting to land at the newly opened airport in Pokhara resort town in Nepal. This news was announced by the Civil Aviation Authority of the country through its Twitter page.
The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft, operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines, was flying from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara, a 27-minute flight, according to CBS News.
With a total of seventy-two people onboard, including four crew members and sixty-eight passengers, Yeti Airlines spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula confirmed the tragic crash of their ATR 72 plane.
A government official declared that the plane crash was the country’s most devastating in over three decades.
CBS News reports, Gaurav Gurung, a witness of the plane’s descent, said that as it attempted to land he saw it spinning violently in mid-air from his terrace. It then plummeted nose-first towards its left until it crashed into the gorge below.
After nightfall, the search was suspended and will pick up again come Monday morning according to Army spokesman Krishna Prasad Bhandari. In a race against time, hundreds of first responders were determined to find the final four missing individuals before then.