Nepal PM forms 5-member panel to probe crash, orders technical test of domestic flights

After the ATR 72 aircraft of Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara on Sunday, January 15, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the Council of Ministers convened an emergency meeting in Baluwatar on the incident. In the meeting, Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal ordered  the formation of a 5-member committee, under the leadership of former secretary Nagendra Ghimire, to conduct an investigation into the crash of the Nepalese passenger plane with 72 people onboard.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), there were 68 passengers onboard- 25 women, 37 men, 3 children and 3 infants. There were 53 Nepalis, 5 Indians, 4 Russians, 2 Koreans, 1 Irish, 1 Argentinian, 1 Australian, and a French national onboard the aircraft.

It took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10.33 am and crash-landed at the airport in Pokhara - a major tourist destination in the Himalayan nation. The aircraft crashed on the banks of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport. 

Nepal PM instructs officials to carry out effective rescue ops

The Nepal Prime Minister has instructed security personnel and all government agencies to carry out effective rescue operations. Two helicopters were deployed from Pokhara airport while additional choppers are on standby in Kathmandu. Rescuers have so far recovered 32 bodies, which have been taken to the Pokhara Institute of Health Sciences and West Zonal Regional Hospital in the city.

In the wake of the crash, the government of Nepal declares a one-day national mourning on January 16, Monday. 

The crash is Nepal's deadliest since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop flight from Dhaka crashed in Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 people on board, according to Aviation Safety Network.

Learning from the incident, the government has instructed to conduct technical inspection of all domestic flights.