An avid mountain climber from Argentina who was expecting to be a grandmother for the first time next month was among the 72 people who died in a plane plummeted in the Himalayas.
Jannet Palavecino, 57, was killed after the Yeti Airlines ATR72 flight crashed into a 984-foot-deep gorge as it was approaching the newly opened Pokhara International Airport in Pokhara, Nepal, on Sunday.
Most of the passengers aboard the twin-engine aircraft were traveling from Kathmandu to Pokhara, a tourist city that is known as the gateway to the popular hiking area in the Himalayas.
Palavecino was vacationing because ‘as a mountain climber, going to Nepal was a dream,’ according to Argentine news outlet TN.
Jannet Pavalecino, of Argentina, was among the 72 people who were killed Sunday when Yeti Airlines ATR72 flight plunged into a gorge as it was approaching the newly opened Pokhara International Airport in Pokhara, Nepal
Rescue teams work at the crash site of a Yeti Airlines ATR72 aircraft in Pokhara, Nepal, on Sunday. All 72 people on board, including four crew members were killed
Her sister-in-law Marga Bello posted a Facebook tribute where she shared an photograph of Palavecino posing behind a rock and revealing that she was looking forward to her granddaughter’s birth in February.
‘That’s how I’m going to remember you, Janecita,’ Bello wrote. ‘Loving life with your children and happy in the highest of mountains. We never had a yes or a no sister-in-law. I will always remember you with great admiration.
‘Maybe you’re already flying here because you won’t miss Fran’s birth. Your first granddaughter who will come in February. Goodbye for the last time.’
Jannet Palavecino (second from left) and her friends including Carina Tumini (right) had traveled to Nepal for a mountain climbing expedition
Jannet Palavecino was a mother-of-two and also co-owned the popular Hotel Suizo in the western province of Neuquén
Palavecino, along with her brother and father, owned the popular Hotel Suizo in the western province of Neuquén and also developed Suizo Natural-Green Market, a company which sold natural products.
On Facebook, she described herself as a person who loved mountain, enjoyed cycling, painting and spending time in her garden.P
She had flown out to Nepal with a group of friends two weeks ago.
Photos of the trip shared by Palavecino’s friend Carina Tumini on Instagram showed off their treks through Mount Everest, Mount Ama Dablam and the Khumbu Glacier, among many other tourist attractions.
‘Utmost respect and admiration for a powerful woman who lived and died fulfilling her dreams,’ Tumini wrote on her social media platform.
On Facebook, Jannet Palavecino she described herself as a person who loved mountain, enjoyed cycling, painting and spending time in her garden
Anju Khatiwada, 44, (pictured) who is among the 72 people feared dead after a domestic carrier crashed into a gorge near the city of Pokhara on Sunday, followed in the footsteps of her husband, Dipak Pokhrel, by joining Nepal’s Yeti Airlines in 2010
The passenger, who has been named as Ruan Crighton, was on board the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 flight when it crashed into gorge near the city of Pokhara on Sunday
Authorities on Monday recovered the flight data and cockpit recorder as part of the investigation into cause of the crash, Nepal’s deadliest in 30 years.
A harrowing video posted on social media showed a male passenger recording the final moments of the 27-minute flight that was flying over the city.
The video, by Sonu Jaiswal and verified by The Associated Press, then shows a violent jolt and a series of jerky images accompanied by yelling before flames fill the screen.
A witness who recorded footage of the plane’s descent said it looked like a normal landing until the plane suddenly veered to the left and then plunged.
Also killed in the crash was talented British ballet dancer, Ruan Crighton. He died just one day after he celebrated his 34th birthday.
Crighton first joined the Central School of Ballet, London in 2005 before becoming a dancer with the Slovak National Theatre in Slovakia from 2008 to 2013.
He then became a valued member at the prestigious Finnish National Opera and Ballet company in Finland before enrolling at the European School of Physiotherapy in Amsterdam. He was supposed to graduate next year.
A rescue team recovers the body of a victim from the site of the plane crash of a Yeti Airlines operated aircraft, in Pokhara, Nepal, on Monday
Rescuers pull the body of a victim who died in a Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara on Monday
Elena Banduro, a travel blogger from Russia, was one of the victims of the Yeti Airlines crash in Nepal
Anju Khatiwada, 44, was identified as the co-pilot on Yeti Airlines flight.
She followed in the footsteps of her husband, Dipak Pokhrel, by joining Nepal’s Yeti Airlines in 2010.
Pokhrel was killed in 2006 when a small passenger he was flying for the domestic carrier went down minutes before landing.
Khatiwada was able to pay for her flying lessons with the insurance payout she received following Pokhrel’s death.
Moscow travel blogger Elena Banduro, 33, who shared her worldwide adventures online, was also among the dead passengers.
Banduro, who also worked as a social media manager, shared a photo of her latest trip showing her on a plane with the message in English: ‘Go to Nepal’ moments before the crash.