Nepal aircraft crash: Yeti Airline plane was earlier owned by now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines

The Nepalese passenger aircraft, which crashed into a river gorge on Sunday, was previously owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines, the data by Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, shows. A total of 68 of 72 people onboard the aircraft, including five Indians, are feared to be dead in the country's worst aviation crashes in over 30 years.

Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft had taken off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10.33 am. The plane crashed into the Seti river gorge just a few minutes before landing. The incident took place between the old old airport and the new airport in Pokhara.

As per the latest update by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, out of 72 persons onboard the plane, 70 bodies have been retrieved so far. "25 bodies have been brought to Kathmandu and 23 are being brought to Kathmandu by Nepal Army for post-mortem at Teaching Hospital. 22 bodies are being handed over to their families/relatives at Pokhara," an update stated.

The mishandling, malfunctioning of the jet or pilot fatigue are believed to be prime reasons for the aircraft crash. Officials have already recovered the black boxes from the crash site.

The Cirium Fleets data shows that the plane that met with the crash was earlier delivered to now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines in the year 2007, a news agency reported, adding the plane was bought by Thailand's Nok Air in 2013, and later by Yeti Airlines in 2019.

The ill-fated aircraft was an ATR-72 aircraft, manufactured by global aircraft manufacturer ATR, which is a joint venture between French aerospace major Aerospatiale and Italian aviation company Aeritalia. The ATR 72-600 is believed to be fuel-efficient regional aircraft, which makes it an attractive choice for regional low-cost airlines. Apart from Yeti Air, Nepal's Buddha Air also has ATR-72 aircraft in its fleet.

The latest aeroplane crash in Nepal comes just 8 months after a Tara Air DHC-6 Twin Otter crashed in the Mustang area of Nepal. A total of 22 people died in the plane crash.

The year 2021 had seen one of the worst-ever aeroplane crash incidents involving Boeing 737 aircraft operated by Sriwijaya Air, which crashed into the Java Sea near Jakarta, leading to the death of 62 people on board.

Before that, an Air India plane, which was coming from Dubai, overshot the runway and broke into pieces at the Kozhikode (Calicut) International Airport in Kerala. Of the total 186 people onboard the plane, around 21 died in the incident.

The year 2020 had seen two more aircraft crashes -- first involving an Airbus A320 in May and another a Ukraine International Airlines plane in January. In the Airbus A320 plane crash, which was being operated by Pakistan International Airlines, a total of 97 people lost their lives. The crash involving Ukraine International Airlines plane killed all 176 passengers amid the heightened tensions between the US and Iran.