Fears for Australian after deadly Nepal plane crash
The close friend of an Australian teacher on board a plane that crashed in Nepal has told of his heartache. Warning: Graphic
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A Sydney schoolteacher who was a keen traveller and surfer is believed to have died in a fatal plane crash in Nepal that killed at least 68 people.
The family of Myron Love is anxiously awaiting confirmation of their worst fears after the 29-year-old’s name appeared among a list of people on-board the doomed ATR 72 Yeti Airlines flight on Sunday local time.
It is understood Mr Love was on board the plane when it crashed while landing in a new airport in the central Nepalese resort town of Pokhara.
Mr Love grew up in Sydney and was an avid surfer, cyclist and travelled widely.
His social media posts include photos from his various travels abroad.
Sydney artist James Lesjak-Atton, a friend of Mr Love’s, posted of his devastation.
“It is with extreme sadness to say we have lost one of the best humans I have ever known, Myron was one of the loves of my life — a truly kind, fun energetic man,” he posted.
“I send all my love to those who need it right now.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed an Australian was on board the plane.
“The Australian embassy is urgently seeking to confirm the welfare of the Australian.Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment,” the spokesperson said.
It comes after harrowing footage emerged from inside the doomed flight.
The video taken by four passengers — Sonu Jaiswal, 29, Anil Rajbhar, 28, Vishal Sharma, 23 and Abhishek Singh Kushwaha, 23 — was live-streamed on Facebook when the crash occurred and shows the final moments before the plane crashed.
Nepal Plane crash से पहले का बताया जा रहा यह वीडियो सोशल मीडिया में वायरल हो रहा है। pic.twitter.com/eevi6nZkBJ
— The News ADDA (@thenewsaddaa) January 15, 2023
According to The Times of India, one of the passengers shouts, “mauj kar di”, meaning “it’s real fun” as the video pans over to the window, showing the city of Pokhara below.
The video pans over to Sonu Jaiswal and briefly shows some of the other passengers on the flight before everything suddenly begins to shake and passengers can be heard screaming.
Video of what seems to be moments before the crash of Yeti Airlines🇳🇵 ATR72 carrying 72 passengers near Pokhara Airport#aerowanderer#aviation#avgeek#nepal#yetiairlinespic.twitter.com/hk12Edlvpf
— Aerowanderer (@aerowanderer) January 15, 2023
Another clip on Twitter showed what appears to be the plane flying at a dangerously low altitude over a residential area, then turning sharply onto its left side before disappearing from view and a loud explosion is heard.
Yeti Airlines has confirmed there were 72 people on the aircraft, including 15 foreign nationals, and four crew members.
The foreign national passengers included Australian passenger Mr Love, five Indians, four Russians, one Irish, two Koreans, one French and one Argentinian national.
AFP said those on board the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop aircraft that plummeted into a steep gorge, smashed into pieces, and burst into flames included six children.
“Rescue is underway, we don’t know right now if there are survivors,” said Yeti Airlines’ spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula.
He said the plane, which took off in Kathmandu for Pokhara, crashed between the central Nepali city’s domestic airport and the international one that opened on January 1.
As light faded late Sunday and soldiers extracted bodies with ropes and stretchers out of the 300-metre-deep ravine, there was no word on the fate of the five people still unaccounted for.
“We are actively working to retrieve and identify the bodies as soon as possible and hand (them) over to their families,” police official AK Chhetri told AFP at the crash site, which was still smouldering and strewn with aircraft debris, including the mangled remains of wings and passenger seats.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese offered his condolences for the victims, including the Australian, killed in the crash.
“Incredibly sad news out of Nepal of a plane crashing with many passengers on board,” he tweeted.
“The government is aware an Australian was on board and is urgently seeking information from Nepalese officials on the welfare of that passenger.”
A local official had earlier said that “some survivors” had been taken to hospital, but this was not confirmed by the aircraft’s operator Yeti Airlines or other officials.
It was unclear if anyone on the ground was injured.
Rescue workers rushed to the site littered with debris, trying to put out several raging fires that were sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
“I was walking when I heard a loud blast like a bomb went off,” said witness Arun Tamu, 44, who was around 500 metres away and who posted live video of the blazing wreckage on social media.
“A few of us rushed to see if we can rescue anybody. I saw at least two women were breathing. The fire was getting very intense and it made it difficult for us to approach closer,” the former soldier told AFP.
“The aircraft crashed into a gorge so it is difficult to bring the bodies Search and rescue is ongoing. No survivors have been found yet,” army spokesman Krishna Prasad Bhandari told AFP.
However, one local official said that some survivors had been taken to hospital but this was not confirmed by either the airline Yeti Airlines or others.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was pained by the tragic air crash in which “precious lives have been lost”.
“Pained by the tragic air crash in Nepal in which precious lives have been lost, including Indian nationals.” he said in a tweet and tagged Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda ’.
“In this hour of grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families.”
Nepal’s air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as foreign trekkers and climbers.
But it has been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance. The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over safety concerns.
The Himalayan country also has some of the world’s most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.
Aircraft operators have said Nepal lacks infrastructure for accurate weather forecasts, especially in remote areas with challenging mountainous terrain where deadly crashes have taken place in the past.
The weather can also change quickly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions.
In May 2022, all 22 people on board a plane operated by Nepali carrier Tara Air — 16 Nepalis, four Indians and two Germans — died when it crashed.
Air traffic control lost contact with the twin-propeller Twin Otter shortly after it took off from Pokhara and headed for Jomsom, a popular trekking destination.
Its wreckage was found a day later, strewn across a mountainside at around 14,500 feet (4400m) above sea level.
After that crash authorities tightened regulations, including that planes would be cleared to fly only if there was favourable weather forecast throughout the route.
In March 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines plane crash-landed near Kathmandu’s notoriously difficult international airport, killing 51 people.
That accident was Nepal’s deadliest since 1992, when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane died when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu.
Just two months earlier, a Thai Airways aircraft had crashed near the same airport, killing 113 people.
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