The team of renowned national, international guides had conducted most of the recovery task on Monday in coordination with security forces
KATHMANDU, MAY 31
A team of experienced international and national mountain guides recovered the black box of crashed Tara Air plane and the body of the last remaining passenger, from the wreckage site this morning, according to Nepal National Mountain Guides Association.
The team was mobilised by Tara Air rescue and recovery team that had first spotted the site yesterday and conducted recovery work in coordination with security forces and the locals, according to IFMGA guide Narendra Shahi.
"Locals of the area were very instrumental in the search efforts as they were the ones to figure out the wreckage site," Shahi stressed.
Later, the GPS coordinates were detected and studied by the NNMGA team coordinated by Shahi.
"After the arrival of the rescue helicopter, the search and rescue team including an army personnel moved to the wreckage site which lies at an altitude of 4100 metres," he said, adding, "15 bodies were located initially of which 7-8 were recovered first and taken to a relatively plain area some 60-70 metres above the site."
There were lots of technicalities involved as the wreckage site lies at a vertical section of the mountain, which is as it sounds, a difficult terrain, he elaborated.
The team of guides, locals and Tara Air personnel retrieved the black box early today morning, along with the mortal remains of the passenger who could not be located on Monday.
On Monday, the search and rescue team had recovered 21 bodies of the 22 people that were onboard the aircraft. Most of the bodies have been airlifted to Kathmandu and their identities are being established.
Search and rescue operation team:
• Narendra Shahi (NNMGA)
• Pasang Tendi Sherpa (NNMGA)
• Indra Singh Sherchan (Local who coordinated efforts)
Meanwhile, the Nepal National Mountain Guides Association has also released a statement regarding the rescue efforts and the members deployed by the association to conduct the operations.
