Nepalese authorities have recovered the black box from Yeti Airlines aircraft that crashed yesterday, killing at least 68 people in the deadliest plane crash in 30 years in the Himalayan nation, officials said.
The black box is reportedly in "good condition" and may help investigators determine what caused the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft to crash in clear weather just before landing in the tourist city of Pokhara.
Sixty-eight passengers on board the aircraft have been confirmed dead.
"The so-called black boxes are in a good condition now. They look good from outside," Teknath Sitaula, a Kathmandu Airport official, said, according to Reuters.
Officials resumed rescue work this morning amid battling cloudy weather and poor visibility as they scoured the river gorge for passengers who are unaccounted for, more than 24 hours after the crash.
The Kathmandu-Pokhara flight had 68 passengers, including five Indians, as well as four crew members.
There is no information about any survivor so far, said Sudarshan Bartaula, spokesperson at Yeti Airlines.
"The families have been contacted. Our Sub Divisional Magistrate and other officials are meeting them," the official said.
The plane plunged into the gorge between Pokhara's brand-new international airport and the old domestic one shortly before 11 am (0515 GMT) on Sunday.
Apart from the five Indians, there were 10 foreigners on board - four Russians, two South Koreans, and one passenger each from Argentina, Australia, France and Ireland.
The rest were Nepalis.
Home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest, Nepal has some of the world's most remote and trickiest runways with approaches that pose a challenge for even accomplished pilots.
The weather is also notoriously capricious and hard to forecast, particularly in the mountains, where thick fog can suddenly obscure whole mountains from view.
Nepal's deadliest aviation accident was in 1992, when all 167 people on a Pakistan International Airlines jet died when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu.