© Reuters. Crowd gather at the crash site of an aircraft carrying 72 people in Pokhara in western Nepal January 15, 2023. Sagar Raj Timilsina/Handout via REUTERS
(Reuters) – Mountainous Nepal, where at least 64 people were killed on Sunday when a plane crashed in the tourist town of Pokhara, has a history of deadly air crashes.
Here are details of plane and helicopter crashes this century in the Himalayan country, where several airlines fly to small airports in remote hills and mountains shrouded in clouds and cut off from roads.
JAN 15, 2023
A twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft carrying 72 people, operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines, crashed in Pokhara, killing at least 64.
MAY 29, 2022
Sixteen Nepalis, four Indians and two Germans died on a De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft that crashed 15 minutes after taking off from Pokhara, 125 km (80 miles) west of Kathmandu, on a Sunday morning.
FEB. 27, 2019
A helicopter crashed in bad weather in eastern Nepal, killing all seven people on board, including the tourism minister.
MARCH 12, 2018
Fifty-one of 71 people on a Bangladeshi airliner died when it crashed in cloudy weather as it came in to land at the Nepalese capital’s hill-ringed airport.
FEB. 26, 2016
Two people were feared dead after a small plane crashed in western Nepal’s Kalikot district.
FEB. 24, 2016
A small plane crashed in bad weather, killing all 23 people on board. The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by private Tara Air, was on a flight from Pokhara.
FEB. 16, 2014
All 18 people on a small plane that crashed in bad weather were killed.
SEPT. 28, 2012
A small plane struck a bird and crashed shortly after takeoff from Kathmandu, killing 19 people, including seven British and five Chinese passengers.
SEPT. 25, 2011
A small plane carrying foreign tourists to view Mount Everest crashed in bad weather near Kathmandu, killing all 19 people on board.
DEC. 16, 2010
A small plane crashed in the Himalayan foothills of remote east Nepal, killing all 22 people onboard.
AUG. 24, 2010
Fourteen people – including four Americans, a Japanese and British national – were killed when their small plane crashed in bad weather in Nepal.
OCT. 8, 2008
A small private plane crashed in the remote mountains of northeast Nepal, killing at least 18 people, mostly foreigners.
MARCH 4, 2008
Four U.N. arms monitors were among at least 10 people killed in a helicopter crash in Nepal.
JUNE 21, 2006
A Twin Otter passenger plane belonging to a private Nepali airline crashed minutes before landing in the west of the country, killing all nine people onboard.
MAY 25, 2004
A small cargo plane crashed in the Mount Everest region, killing its three crew.
AUG 22, 2002
A plane carrying foreign tourists slammed into a mountain in bad weather in Nepal, killing all 18 people on board.
JULY 27, 2000
A Twin Otter passenger plane crashed in western Nepal on Thursday, killing all 25 people on board.