The co-pilot of the Yeti Airlines plane that crashed Sunday in Nepal was the widow of a pilot who flew for the same airline and also died in a plane crash 16 years ago.
In 2010, Anju Hativada joined Yeti Airlines, following in her husband’s footsteps. Deepak Pokhrel also flew for Nepal Airlines but was killed when a small passenger plane he was flying broke up minutes before landing.
Khatiwada was the co-pilot of the plane from Kathmandu that crashed on approach to the city of Pokhara on Sunday, killing at least 68 people in the Himalayan nation’s deadliest plane crash in three decades.
So far, no survivors have been found among the 72 people on board.
“Her husband Deepak Pokhrel died in 2006 in a Yeti Airlines Twin Otter plane crash in Jumla,” airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula told Reuters, referring to Hathivada. “She got her pilot training with the money she got from the 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 flight’s captain, who had more than 21,900 flight hours, was recovered and identified.
Kativada has not been identified but is feared dead, Bartaula said.
“On Sunday, she was flying the plane with an instructor pilot, which is the airline’s standard procedure,” said a Yeti Airlines official who knows Khatiwada personally.
“She was always ready to take on any duties and had flown to Pokhara earlier,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Reuters could not immediately reach any of her family members.
The ATR-72 plane, on which Khatiwada was co-pilot, rolled from side to side before crashing into a gorge near Pokhara airport and catching fire, according to eyewitness accounts and a video of the crash posted on social media media.
The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the plane, which could help investigators determine what caused the crash in clear weather, were recovered Monday.
Nearly 350 people have died in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal since 2000. The country is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest, and sudden changes in weather can lead to dangerous conditions.
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