An aircraft that crashed in Nepal last month killing 71 people on board, had no thrust motion in its engines in the final leg of its descent, a government-appointed panel investigating the accident said.
The plane crashed just before landing in the tourist city of Pokhra on 15 January in one of Nepal's worst airplane accidents in 30 years. The flight was a scheduled one from Kathmandu to Pokhara, gateway to the scenic Annapurna mountain range.
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," the panel said in a statement.
Going into feather or having no thrust in the engine means it did not produce any power.
There were 72 passengers on the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal's Yeti Airlines, including two infants, four crew members and ten foreign nationals.
Rescuers recovered 71 bodies, with one unaccounted person presumed to be dead. The plan was carrying 57 Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one person each from Argentina, Australia and France.
It was confirmed that a passenger on the plane who was described as Irish by Nepalese authorities is a UK national.
He was named as Ruan Calum Crighton. His name was on the list of passengers published by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, where his nationality was listed as Irish.
