KATHMANDU, Feb 16: The pilot of a Yeti Airlines plane which crashed in Nepal killing 72 people said before the crash there was no power from the aircraft's engines, a preliminary investigation report said on Wednesday.

The plane crashed just before landing in the tourist city of Pokhra on January 15 in one of Nepal's worst airplane accidents in 30 years.

There were 72 passengers on the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal's Yeti Airlines, including two infants, four crew members and 10 foreign nationals. Rescuers recovered 71 bodies, with one unaccounted person presumed to be dead.

The report said the pilot flying the aircraft handed over the control to the pilot monitoring before it crashed.

The information in the preliminary report may change as the investigation progresses, it said.

The panel has up to the end of February to submit its final report.

Earlier this month, the panel said an analysis of the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder showed the propellers of both engines went into "feather in the base leg of descending.”

Aviation expert K.B. Limbu said then that propellers going into feather meant there was "no thrust" in the engine, or that it did not produce any power.

 
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