Search teams in Nepal have found the aircraft black boxes that could help reveal what caused a Yeti Airlines flight to crash in Pokhara and kill at least 69 of those on board.
The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the ATR-72 plane were discovered on Monday.
At least 69 of the 72 people aboard were killed in one of the tiny Himalayan country's deadliest air disasters.
Late on Monday, authorities called off the search operation for those still missing, saying it would resume on Tuesday morning.
But officials believe the three missing are also dead, AP reported.
The Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu, carrying 68 passengers and four crew members, crashed minutes before it was due to land at Pokhara's international airport on Sunday morning.
The plane plunged into a 300-metre-deep gorge between Pokhara’s old airport and its new international airport and “broke into pieces”, officials told The National.
Teknath Sitaula, a spokesman for Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport, who travelled to Pokhara after the crash, said the black boxes “are in a good condition now. They look good from the outside”.
“Rescue is not yet concluded, 67 bodies recovered so far. Rescue is ongoing, five bodies are yet to be recovered.
“We have sent the recovered bodies for postmortem and other processes and, once identified, they will be handed over to their families,” he said.
Local residents were the first on the scene after hearing an explosion and seeing plumes of smoke from the crash site, followed by teams of army personnel.
“I was walking when I heard a loud blast, like a bomb went off,” said Arun Tamu, 44, who live-streamed a video of the blazing wreckage on social media.
“A few of us rushed to see if we could rescue anybody. I saw at least two women were breathing. The fire was getting very intense and it made it difficult for us to approach closer,” the former soldier told AFP.
Bishnu Tiwari told the Associated Press: “The flames were so hot that we couldn’t go near the wreckage. I heard a man crying for help, but because of the flames and smoke we couldn’t help him.”
There were 57 Nepalese and 15 foreigners, including five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France, on the flight.
Nepal declared a day of mourning on Monday and set up a panel to investigate the tragedy and suggest measures to improve air safety.
The plane's France-based manufacturer ATR said its specialists were supporting the investigation.
Condolences poured in from around the world.
The UAE offered its condolences to the Nepali government, “people and to the families of the victims as well as its wishes for a speedy recovery for the injured,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation said.
The crash is Nepal's deadliest since March 2018, when 51 people died in a crash-landing near Kathmandu's international airport.
Plane crashes are common in Nepal, which has a poor flight safety record and infrastructure.
Yeti Airlines is the country's second-largest carrier after Buddha Air. In 2018, it was voted one of the world's worst airlines.
Nepali airlines have been banned from European Union airspace since 2013, after eight Britons were killed in a Kathmandu plane crash.
Nepal’s airports are difficult to land in, and the mountainous terrain can create hazardous weather.
In May, 22 people died when a plane crashed in a mountainous area after departing from Pokhara.
That crash prompted authorities to tighten regulations, including clearing flights for take-off only if there was favourable weather forecast throughout the route.
That accident was Nepal's deadliest since 1992, when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane died when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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The biog
Name: James Mullan
Nationality: Irish
Family: Wife, Pom; and daughters Kate, 18, and Ciara, 13, who attend Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS)
Favourite book or author: “That’s a really difficult question. I’m a big fan of Donna Tartt, The Secret History. I’d recommend that, go and have a read of that.”
Dream: “It would be to continue to have fun and to work with really interesting people, which I have been very fortunate to do for a lot of my life. I just enjoy working with very smart, fun people.”
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
'Nightmare Alley'
Director:Guillermo del Toro
Stars:Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Rating: 3/5
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
