Nepal plane crash: Flight recorders to be examined in Singapore

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Transport (MOT) is helping Nepalese authorities to retrieve and process the data readout from the flight recorders of Yeti Airlines flight 691, which crashed in Pokhara on Jan 15.

This comes at the request of the investigation authority in Nepal, a ministry spokesman said in a statement on Thursday (Jan 26).

The process will be carried out at MOT's Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) flight recorder readout facility, which was set up in 2007.

“All investigation-related information, including the progress of investigations and the findings, will be handled by the Nepalese investigation authority,” the spokesman said.

A flight recorder, commonly known as a black box, is an electronic recording device placed in aircraft to aid in the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents.

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

The Kathmandu Post reported on Wednesday that a three-member investigation team will take the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder to Singapore.

It quoted Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at Nepal’s tourism ministry, as saying that the team will leave for Singapore on Friday, with the examination expected to take at least a week.

Initially, it was suggested that the black boxes would be taken to France, where the ATR 72 aircraft was manufactured.

In February 2020, MOT and Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation Relating to Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation.

“The MOU covers the use of investigation facilities and equipment, including the flight recorder readout facility, training, and observer attachments,” said the spokesman.

The examination of the black boxes in Singapore will be free, the Post quoted Lamichhane as saying.

Flight 691 was carrying 72 passengers when it plummeted into a gorge while on approach to the newly opened Pokhara International Airport. Officials said there were no survivors.

The cause of the air crash — Nepal's worst in 30 years — is yet to be determined. CNA

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