Nepal plane crash: Black boxes to be sent to Singapore for analysis

Rescuers scour the crash site of a passenger plane in Pokhara, Nepal earlier this month. The black boxes recovered from the crash is being sent to Singapore for analysis. Photo / AP

The black boxes recovered from the January 15 plane crash in Nepal are being sent to Singapore for analysis to identify the cause of the crash that killed all 72 people on board, officials said Thursday.

Both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder will be examined by experts at Singapore’s Transportation Safety Investigation Bureau.

“The Nepal investigating team is leaving on Friday with the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder where the data will be downloaded and analyzed,” Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Rajendra Kumar KC said.

It was initially suggested the black boxes be taken to France where the aircraft was manufactured, but Nepalese authorities now plan to send the recorders to Singapore.

A committee formed by the government is still looking into the cause of the Yeti Airlines flight crash.

Rescuers are combing the hillside for the remains of two people still missing since the crash January 15 at the resort town of Pokhara, 200km west of the capital, Kathmandu.

The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder are displayed after they were retrieved from the site of the crash of a passenger plane in Pokhara, Nepal on January 16. They will be sent to Singapore for analysis. Photo / AP

The twin-engine ATR 72-500 aircraft was approaching Pokhara International Airport in the Himalayan foothills when it plummeted into a gorge about 1.6km from the runway at an elevation of about 820m.

While it’s still not clear what caused the crash, some aviation experts say video taken from the ground of the plane’s last moments indicated it went into a stall, although it’s unclear why.

It was carrying 68 passengers, including 15 foreign nationals, as well as four crew members. The foreigners included five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France.

Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority has also said the airport’s instrument landing system will not be working until February 26 — eight weeks after the airport began operations on January 1.

Aviation safety experts have said the absence reflects the poor air safety record in Nepal, where mountainous terrain and the resulting variable weather conditions make flying difficult. - AP