Nepal co-pilot's husband also died in plane crash 16 years previously



Rajini Vaidyanathan in Pokhara - BBC News
Mon, January 16, 2023 at 7:21 PM MST·3 min read

The co-pilot of the ill-fated flight that crashed in Nepal on Sunday lost her husband in a plane crash 16 years earlier, it has emerged.

Anju Khatiwada was co-piloting Yeti airlines flight 691 when it smashed into a gorge near the tourist town of Pokhara, killing all on board in the country's worst air disaster in 30 years.

Her husband Dipak Pokhrel had also been co-piloting a Yeti Airlines flight when he died - and it was his death that spurred Anju to pursue a career in aviation.

Distraught at her loss, alone with their young child, Anju's grief became her motivating force.

"She was a determined woman who stood for her dreams and fulfilled the dreams of her husband," family member Santosh Sharma said.

Dipak was in the cockpit of a Twin Otter prop plane which was carrying rice and food to the western town of Jumla when it came down and burst into flames in June 2006, killing all nine people on board.

Four years later Anju was on the path to becoming a pilot, overcoming many obstacles to train in the US. Once qualified, she joined Yeti Airlines.

A trailblazer, Anju was one of just six women employed by the airline as pilots, and had flown close to 6,400 hours.

"She was a full captain at the airline who had done solo flights," Sudarshan Bartaula from Yeti Airlines said. "She was a brave woman.'

Anju later remarried and had a second child as she continued to build her career. Friends and family say she adored her job, and was a delight to be around.

At the crash site in Pokhara, parts of the plane Anju was co-piloting lay scattered on the banks of the River Seti, strewn like battered pieces of a broken toy. A small section of the aircraft rested on the gorge, windows intact and the green and yellow of Yeti Airlines still visible.

This week's tragedy has reignited a conversation about airline safety in the Himalayan nation, which has seen hundreds die in air accidents in recent decades.

Over the years, a number of factors have been blamed for Nepal's poor airlines safety record. The mountain terrain and often unpredictable weather can be tricky to navigate, and are often cited as reasons. But others point to outdated aircraft, lax regulations and poor oversight as equally important factors.

It's still unclear what caused Sunday's crash.

Indian passenger filmed Nepal plane's last moments

Outside the hospital in Pokhara, families of those killed waited for the bodies of their relatives to be released after their post mortems had been completed.

In the bitter cold January air, Bhimsen Ban said he was hoping he could take his friend Nira back to her village soon so her last rites could be performed.

Nira Chantyal, 21, was a singer who often flew with Yeti Airlines. Low cost air travel has become an affordable and popular way for the country's middle class to traverse the mountainous nation.

Nira, who had moved to Kathmandu, had been on the fight on her way to perform at a music festival in Pokhara.

"She was a very talented artist, and used to sing folk songs. She would often sing spontaneously," Bhimsen said, his eyes red from crying.

"I have no words to describe the loss."

Additional reporting: Rajneesh Bhandari, Andrew Clarance.

A pilot couple killed in air crashes in Nepal - 16 years apart


Aftermath of Yeti Airlines plane crash, in Pokhara

Mon, January 16, 2023 
By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - In 2010, Anju Khatiwada joined Nepal's Yeti Airlines, following in the footsteps of her husband, a pilot who had died in a crash four years earlier when a small passenger plane he was flying for the domestic carrier went down minutes before landing.

On Sunday, Khatiwada, 44, was the co-pilot on a Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu that crashed as it approached the city of Pokhara, killing at least 68 people in the Himalayan nation's deadliest plane accident in three decades.

No survivors have been found so far among the 72 people on board.

"Her husband, Dipak Pokhrel, died in 2006 in a crash of a Twin Otter plane of Yeti Airlines in Jumla," airline spokesman Sudarshan Bartaula told Reuters, referring to Khatiwada. "She got her pilot training with the money she got from the insurance after her husband's death."


A pilot with more than 6,400 hours of flying time, Khatiwada had previously flown the popular tourist route from the capital, Kathmandu, to the country's second-largest city, Pokhara, Bartaula said.

The body of Kamal K.C., the captain of the flight, who had more than 21,900 hours of flight time, has been recovered and identified.

Kathiwada's remains have not been identified but she is feared dead, Bartaula said.

"On Sunday, she was flying the plane with an instructor pilot, which is the standard procedure of the airline," said an Yeti Airlines official, who knew Khatiwada personally.

"She was always ready to take up any duty and had flown to Pokhara earlier," said the official, who asked not to be named because he isn't authorised to speak to media.

Reuters was unable to immediately reach any of her family members.

The ATR-72 aircraft that Khatiwada was co-piloting rolled from side to side before crashing in a gorge near Pokhara airport and catching fire, according to eyewitness accounts and a video of the crash posted on the social media.

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the aircraft, which may help investigators determine what caused it to crash in clear weather, were recovered on Monday.

Nearly 350 people have died since 2000 in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal - home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest - where sudden weather changes can make for hazardous conditions.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma, Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal. Editing by Gerry Doyle)