Drones At Nepal Plane Crash Site Look For Final 2 Passengers

 

After the country's deadliest plane crash in thirty years, which left at least 70 people dead, searchers employed drones and rappelled down a 200-meter-deep valley in west Nepal on Tuesday to look for two passengers still missing.

The Yeti Airlines ATR 72 turboprop carrying 72 people crashed in clear weather on Sunday just before landing. Difficult terrain and bad weather made rescue efforts difficult close to the tourist resort of Pokhara.

"There is a lot of fog right now. We are sending search and rescue teams with ropes down the gorge where the plane's debris landed and caught fire "Ajay K.C., a Pokhara police official involved in the rescue operations,” said to Reuters.

On Monday, two more bodies were found by searchers before they had to abandon the effort due to low light.

"The passengers included young children. Some may have died from burns and gone undiscovered. We'll keep looking for them "said K.C.

Television broadcasts featured images of some grieving family members standing outside a Pokhara hospital where autopsies are being performed while they wait for the body of their loved ones.

Searchers discovered the flight's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder on Monday, both of which were in good shape. This finding is likely to aid investigators in determining what caused the disaster.

International aviation regulations mandate that the governments of the nations where the aircraft and its engines were conceived and constructed are automatically involved in the investigation.

Pratt & Whitney Canada produced the aircraft's engines, and ATR is based in France.

Air accident investigators from France and Canada have indicated that they intend to take part in the investigation.