Nepal: Co-pilot of plane that crashed on Sunday lost husband in plane crash 17 years ago

Anju Khatiwada, who was a co-pilot on the Yeti Airlines plane that crashed on Sunday (15), had lost her husband, a co-pilot for the same airline, in a similar accident in 2006.

She decided to become a pilot after the death of her husband, Dipak Pokhrel, and used the insurance money to travel to the United States for her training, Sudarshan Bartaula told CNN . Khatiwada had been with the airline since 2010 and had over 6,300 hours of flying experience.

“She was a brave woman with all the bravery and determination. She left us too soon,” he said.

Khatiwada was a captain and was flying with an instructor pilot for additional training at the time of the accident, added Bartaula.

Pokhara, a lakeside city, is a popular tourist destination and gateway to the Himalayas. It serves as the starting point for the famous Annapurna Circuit trekking route, with over 181,000 foreigners visiting the area in 2019.

A government committee is investigating the cause of the accident, with the help of French authorities. The Yeti Airlines plane was manufactured by the French-based aerospace company ATR.

The plane’s black box, which records flight data, was recovered on Monday and will be handed over to the civil aviation authority, officials said.

Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority said all ATR-42 and ATR-47 aircraft in the country were inspected after the Yeti Airlines crash and no mechanical problems were found.

A search and rescue operation is underway in Nepal after a deadly plane crash that once again highlights the dangers of air travel in a country often referred to as one of the riskiest places to fly.

Of the 72 people on board, at least 69 died after a Yeti Airlines flight crashed near the city of Pokhara on Sunday (15).

Hundreds of rescue workers participated on Monday (16) in the search and recovery mission, which was interrupted and will resume on Tuesday morning (17), said Nepalese Army spokesman Krishna Prasad Bhandari.

Kaski District Police Chief Superintendent Ajay KC said on Monday the chance of finding survivors was “extremely low” as workers had to use a crane to pull the bodies out of a gorge.

Forty-one victims have already been identified, according to the airline. His remains will be handed over to his next of kin, airline and local police officials said.

The autopsies were delayed because a team of forensic experts did not arrive in Pokhara until Monday afternoon local time.

Two South Korean nationals are believed to be among those killed in the crash, based on their belongings, according to the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nepalese authorities said the bodies of the suspected foreigners will be taken to Kathmandu, where they will undergo the necessary inspections and be identified.

The accident is the worst air disaster in the Himalayan nation in 30 years. It is also the third worst air accident in Nepal’s history, according to data from the Aviation Safety Network.

Experts say conditions like bad weather, low visibility and mountainous topography contribute to Nepal’s reputation as notoriously dangerous for aviation.

Sunday’s Yeti Airlines flight was almost finishing its short journey from the capital Kathmandu to Pokhara when it lost contact with a control tower. About 15 foreigners were on board, according to the country’s civil aviation authority.

‘Hostile topography’

Changing weather patterns aren’t the only problem for flight operations. According to a 2019 safety report by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, the country’s “hostile topography” is also part of the “enormous challenge” faced by pilots.

Nepal, a country of 29 million people, is home to eight of the 14 highest mountains in the world, including Everest, and its beautiful rugged landscapes make it a popular tourist destination for trekkers.

But this terrain can be difficult to navigate from the air, especially during bad weather, and things are made worse by the need to use small aircraft to access the most remote and mountainous parts of the country.

Aircraft with 19 seats or less are more likely to experience accidents due to these challenges, the Civil Aviation Authority report said.

Kathmandu is Nepal’s main transit hub, from where many of these small planes depart.

The airport in the city of Lukla, in northeastern Nepal, is often referred to as the most dangerous airport in the world. Known as the gateway to Everest, the airport’s runway is projected into a cliff between mountains, dropping straight into an abyss at the end. Several fatal accidents have happened there over the years, including in 2008 and 2019.

The lack of investment in old aircraft only increases the risks of flying.

In 2015, the International Civil Aviation Organization, an agency of the United Nations, made it a priority to help Nepal through its Aviation Safety Implementation Assistance Partnership. Two years later, the organization and Nepal announced a partnership to address security concerns.

While the country has made improvements to its safety standards in recent years, challenges remain.

In May 2022, a Tara Air flight departing Pokhara crashed into a mountain, killing 22 people. In early 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines flight en route from the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka to Kathmandu crashed on landing and caught fire, killing 51 of the 71 people on board.

And in 2016, another Tara Air flight crashed while flying the same route as the aircraft that crashed this Sunday. This incident involved a newly acquired Twin Otter aircraft flying in good condition.

*With information from Kosh Raj Koirala, Joshua Berlinger, Teele Rebane, Sugam Pokharel, Elizabeth Yee and Yoonjung Seo of CNN.