Nepal Plane Co-Pilot Who Died Also Lost Husband To Flight Crash 16 Years Before

The co-pilot of the Nepal flight that crashed and killed at least 68 people on Sunday also lost her husband in a plane crash 16 years before, according to a report.

Anju Khatiwada, who was co-piloting Yeti Airlines flight 691 when it crashed in Pokhara in Nepal, reportedly pursued a career in aviation after her husband's death, the BBC reported.

Her husband, Dipak Pokhrel, had also been co-piloting a Yeti Airlines flight at the time of his death. The outlet reported that Dipak was in the cockpit of a Twin Otter prop plane when it crashed in June 2006, killing all nine people on board.

"She was a determined woman who stood for her dreams and fulfilled the dreams of her husband," family member Santosh Sharma shared, as quoted by the BBC.

Anju had flown close to 6,400 hours at the time of the accident. She was reportedly one of the only six women employed by the airline as a pilot.

"She was a full captain at the airline who had done solo flights," Sudarshan Bartaula from Yeti Airlines said, per the BBC. "She was a brave woman."

Friends and family of the pilot said that the fact that Anju died the same way as her husband was a tragedy within a tragedy, the BBC.

The plane crash on Sunday was the worst air crash in Nepal since 1992, according to Reuters. The flight carried 72 people from Kathmandu. By Monday, police confirmed 68 people died and said they expected no more survivors to be found.

The government has established a panel to investigate the cause of the crash, and it is expected to report within 45 days, finance minister Bishnu Paudel told reporters.

The fire, thick smoke and treacherous terrain made rescue efforts by authorities challenging since the crash, as per the Guardian.

Soldiers reportedly used ropes and stretchers to retrieve bodies from the 300-meter-deep ravine on Sunday night.

"We have so far sent 63 bodies to the hospital," Nepal police officer AK Chhetri said on Monday.

Meanwhile, Yeti Airlines had reportedly canceled all its regular flights for Monday in "mourning for the passengers who lost their lives."