Nepal plane crash: pilot tried to change landing lanes before accident
- A spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said no distress calls were reported from the pilot
- Authorities said they have began returning to families the bodies of victims, and were sending the aircraft’s data recorder to France for analysis
02:29
Final moments in cabin of doomed Nepal plane caught on passenger video posted online before crash
The pilot of the Yeti Airlines jet that crashed on Sunday, killing all 72 on board, had wanted to land on a different runway than initially assigned, a Nepalese aviation official told dpa on Monday.
But Jagannath Niraula, a spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said no distress calls were reported from the pilot.
“We haven’t received any reports of distress calls before the crash,” Niraula told dpa. Everything seemed normal until the plane was given permission to land at the newly built Pokhara International Airport, he said.
The crash orphaned the 22-year-old daughter of co-pilot Anju Khatiwada, according to a report by the myRepública news website. Khatiwada’s first husband – also a pilot – had died in a similar crash in 2006, Yeti Airlines told dpa.
As of Monday, Khatiwada had not officially been identified among the victims of the crash.
Investigators are still analysing the black box, which was found on Monday. So far 69 bodies from the 72 on board have been recovered. No survivors are expected.
“Our teams are still searching for the remaining three people on board the plane,” a senior administrator in the Kaski district said. “It’s taking longer than expected because the wreckage of the plane is scattered in a gorge,” he said.