New Delhi: The co-pilot of the Yeti Airlines plane carrying 72 people, Anju Khatiwada, was seconds away from achieving her dreams of becoming a captain when the plane crashed into a forested area in Nepal on Sunday.
The plane that crashed between the city’s old and new airports in western Nepal had 68 passengers and four crew members. From Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, Yeti Airlines was flying a twin-engine ATR 72.
On board were fifteen foreigners, including six children. The airlines said in a statement that the plane contained 53 Nepalis, 5 Indians, 4 Russians, 2 Koreans, 1 Argentinian, and one each from Ireland, Australia, and France.
The flight was piloted by senior Capitan Kamal KC and Anju was the co-pilot on the aircraft.
According to reports, this was scheduled to be the last flight of the crashed plane’s co-pilot, Anju Khativada, as a pilot. She was set to become the captain after her successful landing, scheduled for Sunday.
It is to be noted that in order to become a pilot, one needs at least 100 hours of flying experience. Co-pilot Anju had successfully landed in almost all the airports of Nepal earlier.
After a successful landing, Anju was about to get a chief pilot’s license on Sunday. However, just 10 seconds away from her goal, Anju’s dreams came crashing down as the flight met with the fatal accident.
Coincidentally, Anju had lost her husband 16 years back in a plane crash on June 21, 2006. Her husband was a co-pilot for Yeti Airlines itself. Sixteen years back, Yeti Airlines 9N AEQ aircraft, that was on its way to Jumla from Nepalganj via Surkhet, crashed where six passengers and four crew members were killed and one of the victims was Anju’s husband.
Meanwhile, Jyotiraditya Scindia, minister of civil aviation for the Union, expressed condolences for Sunday’s crash. “The loss of lives in a tragic plane crash in Nepal is extremely unfortunate. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the bereaved. Om Shanti,” he tweeted.
