As search operations resumed on Monday, Nepalese authorities have recovered the black box of the Yeti aircraft that crashed on Sunday morning. The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft from Kathmandu, with 72 people on board including five Indians, crashed in Pokhara minutes before landing. A total of 68 bodies have been recovered so far from the crash site.
A black box logs all information including instrumental readings and the conversations of pilots during the flight, and can be used by investigators to understand what led to the crash. According to Reuters, both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been recovered.
Both recorders were in good shape and would be sent for analysis based on the recommendation of the manufacturer, Teknath Sitaula, an official at the Kathmandu airport, told Reuters.
“Was in continuous contact with Pokhara Tower. The landing clearance of that plane had also been obtained. The weather was also fine. Everything was fine, then how the accident happened is a matter of investigation," said Premnath Thakur, General Manager, Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, told PTI.
The aircraft took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am on Sunday and crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport. The bodies of people who died in the Himalayan nation's deadliest crash will be handed over to their respective family members on Monday, according to reports. Of the five Indians, four victims have been identified as Abhishek Kushwaha, Vishal Sharma, Anil Kumar Rajbhar, and Sonu Jaiswal—all residents of Ghazipur district in Uttar Pradesh.
The Nepal government has formed a five-member probe committee to investigate the crash. The probe panel headed by former aviation secretary Nagendra Ghimire has been asked to investigate the accident and submit its report within 45 days.
