The co-pilot of the ill-fated flight that crashed in Nepal on Sunday, Anju Khatiwada, lost her husband in a plane crash 16 years earlier, Reuters reported.
Khatiwada was co-piloting Yeti Airlines flight 691 which smashed into a gorge near the tourist town of Pokhara. All on board were killed in the country's worst air disaster in 30 years.
Her husband Dipak Pokhrel had also been co-piloting a Yeti Airlines flight when he died - and it was his death that spurred Anju to pursue a career in aviation, BBC reported.
"She was a determined woman who stood for her dreams and fulfilled the dreams of her husband," family member Santosh Sharma told BBC.
In June 2006, Dipak was co-piloting a Twin Otter prop plane which was carrying rice and food to the western town of Jumla when it came down and burst into flames.
44-year-old Anju was one of just six women pilots to be employed by Yeti Airlines. She has 6,400 hours of flying experience. The plane was reportedly rolling side to side after it crashed into the gorge and before it burst into flames.
Nearly 350 people have died since 2000 in a plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal where sudden weather changes can make for hazardous conditions.
