New Delhi: No passenger, including the pilot, survived the Nepal plane crash on Sunday (January 15). Yeti Airlines ATR-72 aircraft crashed during landing in Pokhara, Nepal, killing 68 passengers and 4 crew members. Captain Kamal KC was the pilot and Anju Khatiwada was the co-pilot of the ill-fated aircraft. Incidentally, co-pilot Anju Khatiwada was just seconds away from achieving her goal of becoming a captain. Co-pilot Anju Khatiwada’s death just before she became captain isn’t the only sad detail in her life. About 17 years ago, Anju had lost her husband Deepak Pokhriyal in a similar accident.
The line of coincidence is such that Anju’s husband was also the co-pilot of Yeti Airlines. On June 21, 2006, Yeti Airlines 9N AEQ aircraft was en route from Nepalgunj to Jumla via Surkhet, killing six passengers and four crew members. Anju’s husband was also among those killed.
After her husband’s death, her father Govinda was planning to send her to India to study nursing, but she declined and went to America to do a pilot training course. On Sunday, the flight was supposed to change co-pilot Anju Khatiwada to captain, however, Anju, who had successfully landed at almost all airports in Nepal, had to face the sad fate of her husband Deepak Pokharel.