Chilling footage captures doomed plane's final moments before shock crash left 68 dead

Video footage of the deadly plane crash in Nepal that killed 68 has surfaced online, including a clip that appears to have been live streamed on social media as the aircraft went down.

The Yeti Airlines flight went down just before 11am local time on Sunday (January 15) with 72 people on board.

Hundreds of rescue workers have scoured the crash site, just outside of Nepal's capital of Kathmandu, for any survivors.

At least 68 people have now been confirmed dead in the wake of the horror crash in Pokhara, Nepal, which is worst air incident in three decades for the Himalayan nation.

Footage captured only moments before the plane went down show the aircraft teetering violently to one side.

The pilot of #ATR72 of #YetiAirlines saved more lives than lost. He did not lose his cool even after knowing the plane was about to crash. It seems like he diverted the plane to a nearby river gorge to avoid crashing on the village in #Pokhara Nepal. pic.twitter.com/5HNnuO8Mb4

— Zafar Abbas (@zafarabbaszaidi) January 15, 2023

The camera cuts away before the aircraft made contact with land.

New footage has also surfaced from on board the flight itself, which seems to have been live streamed by one of the five Indian nationals on board the doomed airliner.

Former MP of Nepal and Central committee member of the Nepali Congres Abhishek Pratap Shah supplied the chilling clip to the press, telling NDTV it came from one of the crash victims.

"It was sent by one of my friends who received it from a police personnel. It is a real record. It is today's video as the flight was about to land," he told NDTV.

In the disturbing clip, the traveller captures a few happy moments before the camera shakes and the video goes blurry.

Wailing and blood curdling screams could be heard in the final seconds of the clip, just before the footage cuts out.

Rescue crews in Nepal will continue the hunt for survivors on Monday, with the grim task expected to focus on the recovery of bodies instead of the living.

Yeti Airlines confirms 68 persons dead in the tragic air crash today in Pokhara, Nepal.

72 persons were on board the ill-fated flight, including 4 crew members.

May their souls rest in peace ☮️ #planecrash #PokharaAirport #Pokhara #Nepal #NepalPlaneCrash pic.twitter.com/mS6ZLfh6Bc

— Mutahir Showkat (@mutahirshowkat) January 15, 2023

Eyewitness Arun Tamu, who lives nearby the scene of the deadly crash, told Reuters of the carnage he witnessed in the moments after the plane hit the ground.

"Half of the plane is on the hillside," he said.

"The other half has fallen into the gorge of the Seti river."

Another neighbour, Khum Bahadur Chhetri, revealed he was watching the plane from his rooftop terrace in the doomed aircraft's final moments.

"I saw the plane trembling, moving left and right, and then suddenly it nosedived and it went into the gorge," Chhetri told Reuters.

On board the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft were 72 people in total, including three infants and three children, as per the Civil Aviation Authority.

Passengers included five Indian nationals, four Russians and one Irish, two South Korean, one Australian, one French and one Argentine national.