A Sydney teacher is feared to have been killed alongside at least 67 other people when a regional passenger plane crashed moments before landing in Nepal.

Myron Love, a Sydney teacher with a passion for travel, had been holidaying through Asia when he boarded the ATR 72 Yeti airlines flight in Kathmandu.

There were 72 people on board the plane when it crashed into a gorge while landing at a newly opened airport in Pokhara, marking Nepal's deadliest aviation accident in three decades.

READ MORE: Expert offers theory behind Nepal plane crash that killed 68 people

The Department of Foreign Affair and Trade has been unable to confirm whether Love is one of the 68 victims.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the department was providing consular support to Love's family but he couldn't provide any more details.

"Our hearts go out to all of the families of the crew and passengers of the Yeti Airlines flight which crashed in Nepal," he said.

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Love's friend Sam Smith said he has "never met a more genuine bloke in my life".

"To hear that news yesterday is just super, super sad," Smith said.

Aviation experts are still questioning how the flight turned fatal in a matter of seconds.

The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft, operated by Nepal's Yeti Airlines, was flying from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara, a 27-minute flight.

It was carrying 68 passengers including 15 foreign nationals, as well as four crew members, Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.

The foreigners included five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France.

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Rescuers attended the crash site using ropes to pull out bodies from the wreckage amid thick smoke and raging fire.

A witness to the crash said he saw the aircraft spinning violently in the air after it began to attempt a landing, watching from the terrace of his house.

Gaurav Gurung said the plane fell nose-first towards its left and then crashed into the gorge.

"The plane caught fire after the crash. There was smoke everywhere," Gurung said.

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Another witness, Diwas Bohora, was on his terrace in Pokhara when he spotted the plane flying unusually low.

"It suddenly tilted just like a fighter plane tilts to dodge a missile… I thought it was going to come towards our homes," he said.

The incident is Nepal's deadliest crash in 30 years despite the country having a long history of aviation disasters, including 42 fatal crashes since 1946.

Pokhara International Airport was inaugurated two weeks ago but is now closed and is being scoured by crash investigators.

Authorities have recovered the black box from the regional passenger plane that crashed moments before it landed in Nepal, killing at least 68 people.

There were 72 people, including an Australian, aboard the plane when it crashed into a gorge while landing at a newly opened airport in Pokhara, marking Nepal's deadliest aviation accident in three decades.

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were both found in "good condition" and handed to the civil aviation authority on Monday, officials said.

READ MORE: Expert offers theory behind Nepal plane crash that killed 68 people

Black boxes can be essential for investigators to identify why a crash occurred and reconstruct the events that lead to the incident.

It remains unclear what caused the crash.

Sydney teacher Myron Love is feared to be among the victims as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade urgently works to find out if he survived.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of reports an Australian was on board the Yeti Airlines flight which crashed in Nepal on Sunday 15 January," the spokesperson told 9News.

"The Australian Embassy is urgently seeking to confirm the welfare of the Australian."

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Harrowing mission to recover bodies

Nepal has started a day of mourning after the crash while attempting to land at a newly opened airport.

Rescue workers rappelled down a 300-metre gorge to continue the search.

Two more bodies were found on Monday morning.

The bodies are being kept in the Pokhara Academy of Health and Science, Western Hospital.

Gyan Khakda, a police spokesperson in the district, said 31 bodies have been identified and will be handed over to family after officials finish post-mortem reports.

Fifteen foreign nationals were on board, including five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, and one each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina and France, Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.

The bodies of foreigners and those that are unrecognisable will be sent to Kathmandu for further investigation.

A witness who recorded footage of the plane's descent from his balcony said he saw the plane flying low before it suddenly veered to its left.

"I saw that and I was shocked… I thought that today everything will be finished here after it crashes, I will also be dead," said Diwas Bohora.

After it crashed, red flames erupted and the ground shook violently, like an earthquake, Bohora said.

"I was scared. Seeing that scene, I was scared."

Another witness said he saw the aircraft spinning violently in the air after it began descending to land, watching from the terrace of his house.

Finally, Gaurav Gurung said, the plane fell nose-first towards its left and crashed into the gorge.

Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority said the aircraft last made contact with the airport from near Seti Gorge at 10:50am local time before crashing.

The twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft, operated by Nepal's Yeti Airlines, was competing the 27-minute flight from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara, 200 kilometres (125 miles) west.

It wasn't uncommon for campers to stop and chat to Robert Williams as he sprayed blackberries along tracks in the Victorian alpine region.

When a LandCruiser sped toward him just before lunch on a Friday in March 2020, he stepped to the side of the track ready for a friendly conversation.

But the "grumpy old bugger" in his 70s "put his foot down, (and) zoomed past" without even waving.

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When news came later that Melbourne couple Russell Hill and Carol Clay had been reported missing, Williams immediately recognised the grumpy man and his "decked out" LandCruiser.

He recounted the interaction in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday, where former airline pilot Greg Lynn is facing charges of murdering the couple.

Lynn, now 56, has pleaded not guilty to killing them on that Friday, March 20.

Two days earlier Williams had stopped and spoken to a man in his 50s.

The "creepy fella" was sweating, dressed in a single, shorts and gators, as he got out of a white Prado and asked for the best spot to camp, Williams said.

He later saw the Prado parked at a campsite, backed into the bush with only the bull bar sticking out.

"I thought it looked like he was hiding," he said.

It's in that spot that he saw the missing campers head, Williams later told police.

But he wasn't sure if the creepy man was still there.

Two other moments stood out to Williams from that work trip.

After knocking off work about 5pm on the Friday he was circled by a drone while on the phone to his boss.

Williams waved as it filmed him and it circled above him several times.

He watched it as it hovered over and around several campsites for 35 or 40 minutes, before he lost sight of it near Wonnangatta Cemetery.

He didn't see who was operating it, but thought it was rude.

"You're going down there to have a peaceful camp and somebody's flying a drone over top of you," he told the court.

The following morning he smelled burning plastic in the air. It wasn't uncommon for campers to burn their rubbish, he said, and he only took note to make sure it wasn't one of his workers doing the wrong thing. It wasn't.

Hill and Clay's burnt-out campsite and abandoned vehicle were found on March 7, a week after they last communicated with a friend via high-frequency radio.

Their bodies were discovered in bushland outside Dargo in November 2021, several days after Lynn's November 22 arrest while camping at Arbuckle Junction.

Lynn is facing a five-day committal hearing, to test the evidence against him.

His barrister, Dermot Dann, has indicated he may challenge some of the evidence, including his police interview.

He described the admissibility of that interview as "highly questionable" on Monday.

Hunters Damir Jovar and Goran Miljkovic also gave evidence, believing they saw Hill and Clay when they were camped in the area in March 2020.

Through a Serbian translator, the men said they had followed a single-cab white LandCruiser, with a silver toolbox on the back, as they returned to their camp after a day trip.

They saw the vehicle pull into a campsite with some toilets, and park near two other parked vehicles – a white ute and a blue car that was either a Nissan Patrol or station wagon.

Miljkovic also said he heard a gunshot early one morning as they camped, but he said it wasn't uncommon to hear gunshots at night and he, a deer hunter, believed it was poachers targeting stags.

The hearing is continuing.

A young girl has been pulled unconscious from a swimming pool in Sydney's west in what paramedics have described as a "near drowning".

Bystanders at Merrylands Swim Centre noticed the unconscious girl, believed to be aged four, and a boy used a pool noodle to help guide her toward lifeguards this afternoon.

Lifeguards pulled her from the water and performed four rounds of CPR before she was revived, NSW Ambulance said. 

READ MORE: Aussie among 72 on plane that crashed in Nepal

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"We just want to recognise the young fellow in the pool who was able to get help for the little girl," NSW Ambulance Inspector Kevin McSweeny said.

"Water-related incidents can often have a tragic outcome, but fortunately today had a happy ending.

"We urge everyone to remain vigilant around water and to never take your eyes off your kids."

The girl was rushed to The Children's Hospital at Westmead in a stable condition, McSweeny said.

Cumberland City Council runs the pool. The council have been contacted for comment. 

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Many Southern Cross Travel Insurance customers are facing major delays.

A resort manager accused a chef of being on drugs and said no one wanted to work with her.

The Ministry of Transport has no plans to change the law to make helmets compulsory.

The man struggled with the woman for her fingerprint so he could open her phone.

Eight people now face murder charges after Te Kani died in May last year.

The son of a superyacht owner charged over a deadly alleged drug importation has been granted bail after celebrating his 21st birthday in a NSW prisoner uniform.

James Lake Kusviandy Blee, 21, has been in custody since his arrest in November 2022 on drug import and supply charges.

He was allegedly involved in the failed plot to import 108kg of cocaine in May 2022, when a 31-year-old Brazilian died while trying to retrieve drugs from the hull of a bulk carrier in the Port of Newcastle. His body was found near packaged bricks of the drug floating in the water.

READ MORE: Aviation expert's theory on deadly Nepal crash

With the full brief of evidence yet to be presented and a trial unlikely to proceed this year, Justice Dina Yehia granted Blee bail on Monday in the NSW Supreme Court.

He has to remain of good behaviour, report to police daily and reside at a Queensland address as part of his conditions on a $50,000 surety.

There are also restrictions on his use of electronic devices and the internet.

Blee's father, James Blee, was arrested in May 2022 and remains in custody facing similar drug import and supply charges, as well as manslaughter in connection with the dead diver.

READ MORE: Gunshot heard near dead couple's campsite, courts hears

The younger Blee's defence argued his alleged conduct almost entirely comprised of things done at the request of his father.

When granting bail, Yehia considered the son's age, lack of criminal history, and the fact that he had voluntarily attended Tweed Heads Police Station before his arrest.

The judge rejected arguments from the Crown that Blee had not attempted to flee in the almost six months between his father's arrest and his own because he thought he was either already under surveillance or was otherwise "in the clear".

"His father had been arrested, a search warrant was executed at his premises, it was clear when he voluntarily attended the police station that he understood police wanted to speak to him in connection to the criminal activity," Yehia said on Monday.

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The crown case against Blee was not weak, she said, but it was also not overwhelmingly strong.

Blee appeared via videolink from Clarence Correctional Centre, sighing in relief and crossing his chest after bail was granted.

He has been excused from attending in person when his case is mentioned in court again in February.

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