Heartbreaking video has emerged of the plane that crashed in. Nepal over the weekend, showing passengers’ excitement turning to terror and. Offering a rare glimpse into the flight’s final moments.
A pair of videos verified by NBC News, one filmed inside the cabin and posted on Facebook and. The other taken from the ground, show the moments before Yeti Airlines . Flight 691 crashed minutes from landing, killing at least 69 people.
Authorities said Monday they recovered . The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the wreckage. The recovery of . The black box could provide important insights into . The cause of Sunday’s twin-engine ATR 72 plane crash.
The plane was bound for a 27-minute ride from the capital city of Kathmandu to . The popular tourist destination of Pokhara — about 125 miles west of. The Annapurna mountain range.
It carried 68 passengers, including six children and four crew members. A statement from the aviation authority said five Indians, four Russians. Two South Koreans and one each from Argentina, Ireland. Australia and France were on board the flight.
Officials said they still did not expect to find any survivors among the missing. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement . That at least 41 bodies of the 69 rescued have been identified.
According to a video verified by NBC News. They included Sonu Jaiswal, a 32-year-old resident of Gazipur, India. Who recorded the flight procedure from his seat.
Jaiswal was traveling with his . Three friends Anil Rajvar, 25, Vishal Sharma, 27, and Abhishek Kushwaha, 26. A spokesman for the Gazipur District Magistrate’s Office said.
Cheering “it’s a good time” with his friends, he was trying to catch a glimpse of Pokhara from his window as . The flight approached. Jaiswal, smiling as he took the picture. Panned the camera around the calm flight, which had no clear signs of wear.
Moments later the screams of panicked passengers. Can be heard before being engulfed in a screen of flames.
NBC News could not immediately reach family members for comment.
According to a separate video shot by a ground witness and geolocated by NBC News. The plane was flying low over a populated part of the city before banking and plummeting out of the sky.
It looked like a normal landing, said Diwas Bohara, who was filming the plane for his YouTube channel.
“All a sudden the plane went quiet and fell out of the sky,” he told NBC News. “I thought today was my last day,” Bahora said, as the entire area shook .
The co-pilot, Anju Khatiwada, 44, joined the airline in 2010, succeeding her husband. Who died in an accident piloting a small passenger plane four years ago. A Yeti Airlines spokeswoman told Reuters. Khatiwada, which had more than 6,400 flying hours. flown the route, the spokesperson said.
Nepal declared a national day of mourning on . Monday and set up a panel to investigate the disaster and recommend. Measures to avoid such calamities in the future.
The Himalayan country is home to eight . Of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest. And has a long history of plane crashes.
But Sunday’s crash was Nepal’s deadliest since 1992. When a Pakistan International Airlines plane plowed into a mountain . While trying to land in Kathmandu, killing all 167 people on board.
About 350 people have died since 2000 in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal. Where sudden changes in weather can create dangerous conditions.
The European Union has banned . Nepalese airlines from flying to the 27-nation bloc. Since 2013, citing poor safety standards. In 2017, the International Civil. Aviation Organization noted improvements in Nepal’s aviation sector, but the . E.U. Demands for administrative reforms continue.