A harrowing video circulating online provides a glimpse into the final moments aboard a plane that crashed in Nepal, claiming the lives of at least 68 people. The disturbing footage, obtained by TMZ, appears to be filmed live on Facebook by a passenger seated near a window. The clip opens with a view of the man recording, then shifts to show the airplane cabin and fellow passengers.
Glimpse into Tragedy: Video Shows Plane’s Descent
A dramatic change occurs as the plane abruptly tilts to one side, eliciting screams from passengers. The audio becomes muffled, and the view outside the window transforms into a dark red sky. Flames erupt, quickly engulfing the entire frame before the video ends. The identity of the man is reportedly Sonu Jaiswal. Times of India reports Sonu Jaiswal’s cousin Rajat Jaiswal explaining: “Sonu was on Facebook live after boarding the flight for Pokhara. The live-streaming showed that Sonu and his companions were in a happy mood but all of a sudden flames appeared before the streaming stopped.”
The plane, operated by Yeti Airlines, was attempting to land at a newly opened airport in Pokhara, a popular tourist destination. All 72 people on board perished, including 68 passengers and four crew members. Among the passengers were 15 foreign nationals from various countries, including Australia, France, Argentina, Russia, India, South Korea, and Ireland. The Kathmandu Post reported that two infants were also among the victims.
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Other videos circulating online depict different aspects of the tragedy. Some show the plane flying precariously low over a residential area before making a sharp left turn and exploding. Others capture the aftermath, with emergency personnel scouring the crash site located within a gorge. This harrowing tragedy was later revealed to have been caused due to a pilot error. According to Dipak Prasad Bastola: “Due to lack of awareness and lack of standard operating procedures, the pilots had put the condition levers, which control power, in the feathering position, instead of selecting the flap lever. This led the engine to run idle and not produce thrust. But due to its momentum, the aircraft flew for up to 49 seconds before hitting the ground.”
Nepal’s Deadliest Plane Crash in Decades
Nepal, home to eight of the world’s highest mountains, is known for unpredictable weather patterns that can pose challenges for air travel. According to Aviation Safety Network, this disaster is the deadliest to have occurred in Nepal since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop aircraft from Dhaka crashed upon landing in Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 people on board.
All 22 passengers on board a Tara Air aircraft—16 Nepalis, 4 Indians, and 2 Germans—died when the aircraft crashed into a hill in May 2022. Two children and four staff members were among the 72 persons on board the Yeti twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft involved in today’s tragedy, according to airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula. According to a Nepal airport official, there were five Indians, four Russians, one Irish, two South Koreans, one Australian, one French, and one Argentinian on board the aircraft. According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, the aircraft was fifteen years old.
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