The authorities located the two “black boxes” of Yeti Airlines flight 691 in western Nepal, after the accident that left 70 dead and 2 missing so far.
Authorities located the two “black boxes” of Yeti Airlines Flight 691 in western Nepal on Monday, ahead of taking a break from searching for the two remaining missing passengers from the crashed plane.
A total of 70 bodies were recovered from the crash site in Pokhara, a popular tourist city in Nepal, leaving two of the 72 passengers on board missing when searchers finished their efforts for the day.
#YetiAirlines #9N-ANC #Crash
Detail of passenger on board. pic.twitter.com/G06jtkP2oa— Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (@hello_CAANepal) January 15, 2023
The crash marks Nepal’s worst air disaster in 30 years.
Crews descended nearly a thousand feet to the bottom of a gorge to retrieve the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder (CVR and FDR), commonly known as “black boxes,” the Press Trust of India reported.
The CVR records radio transmissions and other sounds in the cockpit, such as conversations between pilots, engine noises, and warnings that may have sounded. The FDR records and stores more than 80 different types of information, such as airspeed, altitude, and direction, as well as pilot actions and avionics systems performance.
Their discovery is crucial to understanding what caused the accident.
Video shot by someone on the ground shows the final seconds of the French-made ATR turboprop as one wing begins to sag dramatically before the plane plunges into the gorge.
In another video released by The Times of India, a dramatic Facebook live broadcast by one of the passengers, who has been identified as Sonu Jaiswal, an Indian citizen, can be seen.
The Nepal Civil Aviation Authority on Monday confirmed the identities of the people on board the planned 27-minute flight. Authorities said they have no hope the two remaining missing people will be found alive.
Of those recovered bodies, 41 had been identified and were being flown by helicopter back to the capital Kathmandu.
The flight was carrying five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans and one person from Argentina, Ireland, Australia and France, including six children. All four crew members and 53 passengers were from Nepal.
The plane crashed into a gorge on Sunday, about a mile from Pokhara, after taking off from Kathmandu with 68 passengers and four crew members. The 15.5-year-old ATR-72 twin-engine plane was operated by Nepalese airline Yeti Airlines, its fourth owner, which took possession of the plane in 2019.
Conditions at the time of the accident were good, with little wind, clear skies, and temperatures well above freezing.
Nepal declared a day of national mourning on Monday. Authorities set up a panel to investigate the disaster.
The European Union bans Nepalese airlines from flying to and from the EU or through its airspace, a measure implemented in 2013 due to concerns about the country’s safety standards.