Video from January 2023 shows a Yeti Airlines plane just before it crashed, killing 72 people. (Diwas Bohora/@channeld4641 via Storyful)
The plane crash that killed 72 people in Nepal on January 15, 2023 has been attributed to pilot error, according to the release of a preliminary investigation report.
Earlier this week, the Nepal Air Accident Investigation Commission released its preliminary report on the Yeti Airlines flight that crashed into a river gorge in Pokhara. The aircraft was carrying a total of 72 passengers including the crew, all of whom perished.
The report indicates that one of the pilots used the wrong lever on the descent and extended the propellers instead of lowering the flaps.
Two captains operated the plane. One of the captains was in the process of familiarizing himself at the airfield for Pokhara operations and the other captain was the flight instructor. The captain to be briefed, occupying the left seat, was the Pilot Flying (PF) and the instructor on the right was the Pilot Monitoring (PM).
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EDITORS’ NOTE: Graphic content / Rescuers drag the body of a victim who died in a Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara on January 16, 2023. (RAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“At 10:56:27 the PF (Pilot Flying) disengaged the autopilot system (AP) at an altitude of 721 feet above ground level (AGL). The PF then requested ‘FLAPS 30’ at 10:56:32 and the PM (Pilot Monitoring) replied ‘flaps 30 and descending’,” the report reads.
“The Flight Data Recorder (FDR) data did not record any flap surface movement at this time. Instead, the propeller speed (Np) of both engines decreased simultaneously to less than 25% and the torque (Tq) began to decrease to 0%. , which is consistent with both propellers transitioning to the feathered state. When the propellers are in the feathered state, they produce no thrust.”
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Rescuers work at the site of a plane crash in Pokhara, Nepal, Jan. 15, 2023, in this screenshot from a handout video. (ANI/Handout/via Portal/Portal Photos)
According to AirlineRatings, the lever that operates the flaps and the lever that extends the propellers are next to each other on the crashed ATR model airplane.
When the propellers are feathered, they no longer produce thrust. According to the report, the cockpit voice recorder picked up a single master warning tone, which sounded about 10 seconds after the propellers extended.
The stick shaker, a mechanical device that vibrates loudly to warn the crew of an aerodynamic stall, sounded twice before the plane “left abruptly” and continued to crash.
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A general view of people gathered after the plane crash in Pokhara, Nepal on January 15, 2023 in this social media image. (Naresh Giri/via Portal/Portal Photos)
The crash was Nepal’s worst air disaster since 1992, when a plane carrying 167 people crashed near the capital, killing all on board.
Yeti Airlines’ passenger list included 53 Nepalese citizens, five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, one Australian, one Argentine, one Irish and one French, Nepalese authorities said.
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Home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest, Nepal has a history of plane crashes. According to the Flight Safety Foundation’s flight safety database, there have been 42 fatal plane crashes in Nepal since 1946.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Pilar Arias and Portal contributed to this report.