Each year, there are many tourists that visit Nepal. Over the last thirty years, there have been twenty seven deadly plane crashes, resulting in the deaths of about seven hundred people. Many of the runways in Nepal are remote and difficult to navigate. The tall mountains can pose difficulty for even the most experienced pilots. In January, there was a plane crash in Nepal where at least sixty nine people died. The flight was supposed to go from Kathmandu to Pokhara. The flight was on Yeti Airlines. The cause of the crash is currently still under investigation. However, experts believe that the cause may be pilot error or technical difficulties. Investigators found the black box from the flight. A black box is a flight recorder that documents information during a flight, such as warnings from devices and sound recordings of the flight. Government agencies require all commercial flights to have a black box. This is because the black box helps investigators piece together what happened on the plane before the crash. The black box from this flight was sent to Singapore for analysis. 

The copilot of the flight was Anju Khatiwada. She became interested in flying after her husband died while copiloting a Yeti Airlines plane that crashed sixteen years earlier. She was one of only six women working as pilots for the airline. Khatiwada was a very experienced pilot and she had flown about 6,400 hours. Family and friends said that she was a very determined woman and that she loved her job. Also, they said that she “fulfilled the dreams of her husband” by flying. Another person who died on the flight was Nira Chhantyal. She was a folk singer and was on her way to perform at a music festival when the plane crashed. Hopefully, within the coming months, investigators will determine the cause of the crash so it can be prevented from happening again.