Nepal Plane Crash: Video Claims To Capture Moments Before Disaster Struck Aircraft

"I saw the plane trembling, moving left and right, and then suddenly its nose dived and it went into the gorge," said the eyewitness as Yeti Airlines aircraft crashed near Pokhara in Nepal

Visuals on social media of the Yeti Airlines in Nepal’s Pokhara show massive fire erupting after the plane crashed near the Seti river just before landing. Other footage shared by social media users showed that the plane lost control midway before crashing. 

Speaking to the news agency Reuters, Khum Bahadur Chhetri said that he watched from the roof of his house as the flight approached.

"I saw the plane trembling, moving left and right, and then suddenly its nose dived and it went into the gorge," Chhetri told the news agency, adding that local residents took two passengers to a hospital.

 "Half of the plane is on the hillside," said another local resident, who told the news agency that he reached the site minutes after the plane went down. "The other half has fallen into the gorge of the Seti river."

Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 which took off from the capital Kathmandu crashed near Pokhara, where it was to land, with 72 people onboard according to several media reports. As per the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the plane took off at 10:33 am from Kathmandu.

While landing at the Pokhara airport, the aircraft crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport. There were a total of 68 passengers and four crew members, Republica newspaper reported.

The plane, with 72 people onboard included 53 Nepalese and 13 foreign nationals with 5 Indians, 4 Russians, 2 Koreans, and one Irish, Argentinian, and French national each. 29 deaths have been confirmed by the officials. 

In the wake of the incident, the Nepal government has announced one-day national mourning. Meanwhile, a 5-member committee has been constituted to investigate into causes of the crash.