‘On-site assessment visits to plane crash site in Pokhara postponed’

KATHMANDU: The EU mission in Nepal and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on Friday said that they are postponing a planned on-site assessment visit to the Pokhara plane crash site, as mandated by the EU Air Safety Committee.

"Given the current context related to the terrible accident and in mutual agreement, the EU and CAAN, have reached the conclusion that it would be in our best mutual interest to postpone a planned on-site assessment visit mandated by the EU Air Safety Committee, for the time being," EU Delegation to Nepal and CAAN said in a statement.

"The primary focus for CAAN, at this time, is on dealing with the aftermath of the accident," the statement added.

They said their services will continue to work closely in order to organise the visit. "In the meantime, the European Union will continue to assist CAAN in its efforts to improve the aviation safety situation in Nepal," the statement.

A Yeti Airlines passenger plane with 72 people on board, including five Indians, crashed into a river gorge while landing at the newly-opened airport in central Nepal's resort city of Pokhara on Sunday.

Kathmandu Post on Sunday quoted Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesperson of Yeti Airlines as saying that the ATR 72 Yeti airlines aircraft crashed between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport.

Earlier, the black box of the Yeti Airlines aircraft was handed over by the Nepal Army to Civil Aviation Authority officials. A black box is a flight data recorder that records all flight information through a special algorithm. The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft from Kathmandu crashed in Pokhara minutes before touch-down.