Black box recovered, 35 bodies identified

The black box of the Yeti Airlines aircraft has been recovered from the accident site on Monday, as search is on for the four persons still missing after the plane with 72 people, including five Indians, on board crashed into a river gorge while landing at Nepal’s newly-opened airport in the resort city of Pokhara.

KATHMANDU: 

Officials said 35 bodies out of 68 have been identified so far as Nepal began a national day of mourning on Monday.

Both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been recovered as search and rescue teams rappelled down a 300-metre gorge to continue their efforts, which were suspended overnight.

The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) records radio transmissions and other sounds in the cockpit, such as conversations between the pilots, and engine noises. The flight data recorder (FDR) records more than 80 different types of information such as speed, altitude and direction, as well as pilot actions and performance of important systems.

According to Kathmandu airport officials, the boxes were recovered from the site of the accident, a day after Yeti Airlines’ 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport minutes before landing.

The boxes were handed over to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesperson of the Yeti Airlines.

The boxes could offer vital clues about Sunday’s crash — Nepal’s deadliest aviation accident in over 30 years.