Singapore to examine Nepal plane crash flight recorders

Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau flight recorder readout facility is performing the data retrieval of the black box in the Nepal plane that recently crashed.

According to Channel News Asia, the data retrieval from the black boxes of Yeti Airlines flight 691 will help Nepalese authorities in their investigation of what caused the plane to go down.

The crash on January 15 in Pokhara, Nepal took the lives of 72 passengers after plummeting into a gorge when approaching the new Pokhara International Airport. It is considered Nepal’s worst plane crash in 30 years.

The Kathmandu Post reported that a three-member investigation team will take the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder to Singapore. The examination is expected to take at least a week from today.

Initially, it was proposed to take the black boxes to France, where the ATR 72 aircraft was manufactured. But, Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation Relating to Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation with Singapore’s Ministry of Transportation.

Because of that understanding, it is understood that the black box reading will be free of charge. A spokesperson of the MOU said that the MOU covers the use of the investigation facilities and equipment, including the flight recorder readout facility, training, and observer attachments.

The flight recorder, which is also known as a black box, is an electronic reading device that can aid in the investigation of plane crashes or incidents.

It preserves engine sounds, instrumental warnings and other audio during the flight. There is also a cockpit voice recorder that captures and stores audio from the earphones of headsets and microphones of the pilots.

Meanwhile, the co-pilot of the crash, Anju Khatiwada was the widow of deceased former Yeti Airlines pilot, Dipak Pokhrel. He also died in a plane crash back in 2006. The small Twin Otter passenger plane he was flying went down minutes before landing in Jumla.

Anju Khatiwada used the money she received from the insurance company after her husband’s death to train as a pilot. Sadly, her career also ended abruptly with the recent crash.