Co-pilot of downed Nepal passenger plane was widow of pilot killed in 2006 crash

In 2010, Anju Khatiwada joined the Nepalese airline Yeti, following in the footsteps of her husband, a pilot who had died in an accident four years earlier when a small passenger plane he was flying for a domestic carrier went down minutes before landing.

On Sunday, Khatiwada, 44, was the co-pilot of a Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu that crashed on approach to the city of Pokhara, killing at least 68 people in the Himalayan country’s worst plane crash in three decades.

No survivors have been found so far among the 72 people on board.

“Her husband, Dipak Pokhrel, died in 2006 in a Twin Otter plane crash of Yeti Airlines in Jumla,” airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula told Reuters, referring to Khatiwada. “She got pilot training with money from insurance after her husband died.”

A pilot with more than 6,400 hours of flying time, Khatiwada had previously flown the popular tourist route from the capital, Kathmandu, to the country’s second largest city, Pokhara, Bartaula said.

The body of Kamal KC, the captain of the plane, who had more than 21,900 hours of flight time, has been found and identified.

Kathiwada’s remains have not been identified but they are feared dead, Bartaula said.

“On Sunday, he flew the plane with an instructor pilot, which is the airline’s standard procedure,” said a Yeti Airlines official, who is familiar with Khatiwada.

“He is always ready to do any task and has flown to Pokhara before,” said the official, who asked not to be named as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Reuters could not immediately reach his family members.

The ATR-72 plane that Khatiwada was co-piloting rolled from side to side before crashing into a river gorge near Pokhara airport and burst into flames, according to eyewitness accounts and videos of the crash posted on social media.

It is unclear what caused the crash, the Himalayan country’s biggest plane crash in three decades. On the day of the accident, the weather was mild and there was no wind.

The ground shook like an earthquake, witnesses said

Witnesses who recorded footage of the plane’s descent from the balcony said they saw the plane descend before suddenly turning left. “I saw it and I was shocked. I thought that today everything will end here after the collision, I will also die,” said Diwas Bohora.

After the collision, red flames erupted and the ground shook, like an earthquake, Bohora said. “I’m scared, seeing that scene, I’m scared.”

Another witness said he saw the plane spinning violently in the air after it began to descend to land, watching from the porch of his house. Eventually, Gaurav Gurung said, the plane veered to the left and fell into a ravine.

Cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders from the plane, which could help investigators determine what caused the crash in clear weather, were recovered on Monday.

Both recorders are in good condition and will be sent for analysis based on the manufacturer’s recommendations, Teknath Sitaula, an official at Kathmandu airport, told Reuters on Friday.

Rescuers battled cloudy weather and poor visibility as they explored the river gorge where the plane crashed.

Nearly 350 people have died since 2000 in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal – home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest – where sudden changes in weather can lead to dangerous conditions.