NEPAL IS IN MOURNING FOLLOWING SUNDAY'S PLANE CRASH NEAR THE
CITY OF POKHARA. DOZENS OF PEOPLE ON BOARD A
YETI AIRLINES FLIGHT WERE KILLED WHEN IT PLUNGED TO THE
GROUND. JUST HOURS AGO, THESE WERE THE
SCENES AT A NEARBY HOSPITAL AS FAMILY MEMBERS WAITED FOR THEIR
LOVED ONES BODIES TO BE IDENTIFIED AND RELEASED.
SEARCH OPERATIONS AT THE CRASH SITE HAVE ENDED FOR THE NIGHT.
THEY WILL RESUME ON TUESDAY AND INVESTIGATORS HOPE TO LEARN
MORE SOON FROM THE PLANE'S TWO FLIGHT RECORDERS WHICH HAVE NOW
BEEN RECOVERED. CNN'S VEDIKA SUD SHOWS US
SOME OF THE FLIGHT'S FINAL MOMENTS.
>> A VIDEO ON SOCIAL MEDIA APPEARS TO SHOW THE PASSENGER
PLANE BANKING SUDDENLY, MOMENTS BEFORE THE CRASH IN WESTERN
NEPAL. ON SUNDAY MORNING, A YETI
AIRLINES OPERATED FLIGHT EMBARKED ON A ROUGHLY 30-MINUTE
FLIGHT FROM THE CAPITAL OF KATHMANDU TO POKHARA, THE
COUNTRY'S SECOND MOST POPULATED CITY.
>> TRANSLATOR: WE HEARD A LOUD, THUNDEROUS CRASH AND REACHED
OUR -- --
TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED. WE SAW A LOT OF SMOKE AND
REALIZE THERE WAS A CRASH. WE RUSHED TO THE SITE.
>> THE FLIGHT WAS LAST IN CONTACT WITH THE POKHARA 18
MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF BEFORE IT CAME CRASHING DOWN IN THE
NEARBY GORGE. IT IS THE DEADLIEST AIRCRAFT IN
MORE THAN THREE DECADES IN NEPAL.
DOZENS OF BODIES HAVE BEEN PULLED OUT OF THE GORGE USING
CRANES. SOME HAVE YET TO BE IDENTIFIED
BY FAMILY MEMBERS. ON MONDAY, RESCUE TEAMS
RETRIEVED THE BLACK BOXES. THE FLIGHT DATA AND COCKPIT
VOICE RECORDER COULD HELP UNDERSTAND THE MOMENTS LEADING
UP TO THE CRASH. THE HIMALAYAN COUNTRY HAS A
RECORD OF AIR ACCIDENTS DUE TO ITS MOUNTAINOUS TOPOGRAPHY AND
SUDDEN CHANGES TO THE WEATHER, BUT IN THIS CASE, OFFICIALS SAY
IT WAS A CLEAR DAY. THE NEPAL GOVERNMENT HAS SET UP
A PANEL TO PROBE THE AIR ACCIDENT AND WILL HOPEFULLY
FIND ANSWERS TO WHAT LED TO THE THIRD WORST AVIATION ACCIDENT
IN NEPAL'S HISTORY. >> LET'S GET YOU TO THE
DEVELOPMENTS FROM NEW DELHI IN NEIGHBORING INDIA.
HOW QUICKLY DO AUTHORITIES BELIEVE THEY WILL BE ABLE TO
REVEAL ANY FURTHER DETAILS ON WHAT HAPPENED AND WHY?
>> WELL, THAT THE, ACCORDING TO THE NEPAL GOVERNMENT, IT'S
GOING TO TAKE ABOUT 45 DAYS FOR ALL THE INVESTIGATION TEAM TO
ACTUALLY GO AHEAD AND SUBMIT THEIR --
IT HAS BEEN CONSTITUTED. IT IS A HUGE SIGNIFICANT
DEVELOPMENT THAT THE BLACK BOXES, AS YOU MENTION, HAVE
BEEN RETRIEVED FROM THE CRASH SITE.
THAT HOLDS THE KEY TO THE INVESTIGATIONS, BECKY.
WE WILL GET TO KNOW ABOUT THE LAST MOMENTS FROM THE BLACK
BOXES. OFFICIALS HAVE TOLD CNN THAT
THEY ARE IN GOOD CONDITION. THAT COULD ANSWER THE QUESTIONS,
NOT ONLY HELD BY THE INVESTIGATORS, BUT ALSO THE
FAMILY MEMBERS. THEY WILL BE LINING UP OUTSIDE
THE HOSPITALS WAITING TO RECEIVE THE BODY OF THEIR LOVED
ONES. AS FOR THE LATEST FROM THE
CRASH SITE, TODAY WAS DAY TWO OF THE SEARCH OPERATIONS.
IT HAS ENDED WITH ONE BODY IN ADDITION TO THE 68 RECOVERED ON
SUNDAY. CRANES WERE USED TO PULL THESE
BODIES OUT FROM THE GORGE. WE KNOW THAT ALL OF THESE
BODIES, A POSTMORTEM WILL BE CONDUCTED.
THERE WERE 15 FOREIGN NATIONALS ON BOARD THE FADED FLIGHT.
WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THE BODIES WILL BE AIRLIFTED TO A HOSPITAL
AND KATHMANDU WHERE THE POSTMORTEMS WILL BE CONDUCTED.
THEY WILL BE HANDED OVER TO FAMILY MEMBERS, BUT ONLY 38
BODIES HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS WE SPEAK.
THERE ARE A LOT MORE BODIES WHICH NEED TO BE IDENTIFIED AT
THIS POINT. HEARTBROKEN SCENES OUTSIDE THE
HOSPITAL -- FAMILIES ASKING WHAT REALLY
HAPPENED, TELL US MORE, BUT WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR THOSE ANSWERS
FROM THE TEAM, THE PROBE TEAM THAT IS INVESTIGATING THIS AIR
CRASH. IT IS THE DEADLIEST IN MORE
THAN THREE DECADES. >> VEDIKA SUD ON THE STORY,
THANK YOU.