Pilot Couple Killed In Air Crashes In Nepal, 16 Years Apart

Anju Khatiwada, 44, was the co-pilot on a Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu that crashed as it approached the city of Pokhara on Sunday, killing at least 68 people and making it the deadliest plane crash in the Himalayan nation in thirty years.

Khatiwada joined Nepal's Yeti Airlines in 2010 after her husband, Dipak Pokhrel, a pilot, lost his life in a crash in 2006 when a small passenger plane he was piloting for the domestic carrier went down just before landing.

Pilot Couple Killed In Air Crashes

According to airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula, Khatiwada's husband, "Dipak Pokhrel, died in a crash of a Twin Otter plane of Yeti Airlines in Jumla in 2006." Bartaula added that Khatiwada received her pilot training using the funds she received from the insurance following the death of her husband.

Khatiwada, an experienced pilot with more than 6,400 hours in the air, had previously flown the well-travelled route from Kathmandu, the nation's capital, to Pokhara, the second-largest city, according to Bartaula.

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The body of the flight's captain, Kamal K.C., who had logged more than 21,900 hours in the air, has been located and identified. Bartaula claimed that Kathiwada is thought to be dead despite the fact that her remains have not been discovered.

According to a Yeti Airlines official who knew Khatiwada personally, "On Sunday, she was flying the plane with an instructor pilot, which is the standard procedure of the airline."

She had already flown to Pokhara and was always willing to accept any responsibility, according to the official, who wished to remain unnamed because he was not authorised to speak to the media. According to eyewitness accounts and a video of the crash posted on social media, the ATR-72 aircraft that Khatiwada was co-piloting rolled from side to side before coming down in a gorge close to the airport in Pokhara and catching fire.

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the aircraft, which could help investigators determine what caused it to crash in clear weather, were discovered on Monday.

In Nepal, home to eight of the world's fourteen highest mountains, including Everest, where sudden weather changes can create hazardous conditions, nearly 350 people have died in aircraft or helicopter crashes since 2000.