Guitarist Nishant Acharya Among Dead in Nepal Plane Crash

Guitarist and composer Nishant Acharya is among the dozens of people killed after a plane crashed in Nepal over the weekend. Acharya was reportedly traveling to his hometown of Pokhara along with his girlfriend, uncle and brother when Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashed Sunday, The Kathmandu Post confirmed. He was 28.
 
Acharya’s musical career began when he was just a teenager. Known for his clean fingerstyle-guitar playing, the musician soon grew a wide social media presence, becoming one of Nepal’s most-followed music educators. He frequently uploaded guitar tutorials on social media, with his educational and informative videos inspiring others to learn to play guitar helping grow his Tiktok account from just 20 followers to more than 21,000 followers during a single month in 2021. At the time of his passing, Acharya’s TikTok account boasts over 70 thousand followers. He has more than 10,000 followers on Instagram and more than 28,000 people are subscribed to his YouTube channel.

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Reflecting on Acharya, Shirshak Subedi, the head luthier at Sahana Guitars, said, “I don’t think anyone who met him could dislike him. He was very pure at heart and exceptional at playing the guitar.” Composer, keyboardist and educator Abhisek Bhadra, who knew Acharya, added, “His passing is a great loss for Nepali music. Nishant was a fantastic musician and a passionate and committed educator.”
 
A total of 72 people died when Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashed at around 10:50 a.m. local time Sunday just minutes before landing, per the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. The plane departed from Nepal’s capital city, Kathmandu, and was headed to popular tourist spot Pokhara, a roughly 27-minute journey, according to NBC News. Among the dead were 53 Nepalese and 15 foreign nationals: five Indians, four Russians, two South Koreans, one person from Ireland, one from Australia, one from Argentina and one from France. CNN reported that three infants were among the victims. The crash marked the deadliest Nepal has seen since 1992 when all 167 people on board a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when the aircraft struck a hill as it tried to land in Kathmandu.
 
Following Sunday’s tragedy, Nepal observed a day of national mourning Monday in honor of the victims of the crash. Per NBC, a panel is currently being set up to investigate the disaster and how to prevent future tragedies.