Kathmandu, March 15: The government has extended the deadline given to the commission formed to probe the plane crash of Yeti Airlines in Pokhara by 45 days. Joint secretary and spokesperson for the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Netra Prasad Subedi said that the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday evening extended the commission's deadline by 45 days.

An ATR-72 aircraft of Yeti Airlines that had flown to Pokhara from Kathmandu on January 15 had met with an accident in the course of landing at Pokhara International Airport, killing all 72 passengers and crew members on board. The government constituted a five-member commission of inquiry to find out the truth about the crash of the Yeti Airlines plane under the coordination of former secretary Nagendra Ghimire, including aviation experts, air maintenance  engineers  and joint secretary of the Ministry, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Initially, the commission was given 45 days.

The commission was given the responsibility of finding out the cause of the accident and submitting a report with suggestions for actions to be taken to prevent such accidents in the future. The commission was given a period of 45 days. The Air Crash Investigation Commission was formed as per the Non-Military Air Accident Investigation Regulations, 2071 BS.

The commission, while giving a preliminary report on February 15, mentioned that 14 seconds before the accident, instructor pilot Kamal KC took over the command from pilot Anju KC. Joint Secretary and government spokesperson for Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Netra Prasad Subedi said that the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday extended the deadline by 45 days as the investigation commission is yet to complete its work.

 
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