Nepal plane crash: Pilot didn’t report anything untoward, official says – Saudi Gazette

Nepal plane crash: Pilot didn’t report anything untoward, official says – Saudi Gazette

KATHMANDU — The pilot of the flight that crashed in Nepal did not report "anything untoward" as the plane approached the airport, a spokesman said.

Anup Joshi said that the "mountains were clear and visibility was good", adding there was a light wind and "no issue with weather".

There were 72 passengers and crew aboard the Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara which crashed on Sunday.

No one is believed to have survived.

Mobile phone footage showed the plane rolling sharply as it approached the airport. It then hit the ground in the gorge of the Seti River, just over a kilometer from the airport.

The pilot asked for a change from the assigned runway 3 to runway 1, which was granted by the airport, Joshi said.

"We could operate from both runways. The plane was cleared for landing," the Pokhara airport spokesman said.

It was "very unfortunate" that the incident happened 15 days after the airport had opened for business, Joshi added.

The crash is the country's deadliest plane crash in 30 years.

Searchers earlier said they had given up hope of finding survivors.

Local official Tek Bahadur said the chances of finding anyone alive were "nil". However the plane's flight data and voice