Civil aviation officials have confirmed that the black box of a Tara Air jet that crashed in Nepal on Sunday has been retrieved.
On Monday, search crews discovered the crash site. Since then, the bodies of all 22 individuals aboard have been discovered.
The jet had been flying for 20 minutes when it lost communication with air traffic control five minutes before landing.
The aircraft had four Indians, two Germans, and 16 Nepalese passengers.
“The cockpit voice recorder, commonly known as the plane’s black box, has been retrieved from the disaster scene,” said Deo Chandra Lal Karna, a spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority Nepal (CAAN).
“A helicopter is being prepared to carry the black box to Kathmandu.”
Mountain guides and security personnel “cut out” the black box from the wreckage of the jet that was “trapped on the mountain cliff,” according to local rescuer Indra Singh Sherchan.
The plane, which was built by Canadian aircraft manufacturer de Havilland, took off from Pokhara’s tourist town at approximately 0955 local times on Sunday (04:10 GMT). It was on its way to Jomsom, which is a major tourist and pilgrimage destination.
The news spurred a desperate search for the jet and its occupants, which was hampered by terrible weather and difficult terrain.
The crash site was located in the northern Nepalese district of Mustang on Monday, marking the end of a nearly 24-hour long search.
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