Plane crashes in Nepal with 18 dead

KATHMANDU, NEPAL — A domestic plane crashed on Wednesday just after taking off at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, killing 18 people and injuring a pilot who was the lone survivor.

Police official Basanta Rajauri said authorities have pulled out all 18 bodies. The pilot has injuries to his eyes but his life is not in any danger, said a doctor at Kathmandu Medical College Hospital, where the pilot is being treated.

A press statement issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said the Saurya Airlines domestic plane, which was scheduled to head to the resort town of Pokhara, took off at 11:11 am from Kathmandu airport and turned right but crashed moments later in the eastern section of the airport.

Subash Jha, the airport spokesman, said that the plane was going to Pokhara for maintenance checks.

It is monsoon rain season in Kathmandu but was not raining at the time of the crash. Visibility was low across the capital, however.

The airport has been closed as emergency crew and investigators began their work.

The bodies have been taken to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for autopsy. The airline manifest showed there were two pilots and 17 passengers on board, among them there was only one female. The crew and 16 passengers were Nepali nationals and one passenger was identified as a Yemeni national.

Cabinet meeting

Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli called a cabinet meeting over the plane crash, media reports said.

The Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, is located inside a valley surrounded by mountains on most sides. It is considered a challenging airport for pilots and bigger planes have to come through an opening on the mountain to land. It is right next to the city, surrounded by houses and neighborhoods.

In 2019, a Bangladeshi airliner crashed at Tribhuvan airport, killing 51 people while 20 on board survived. An investigation confirmed the plane was misaligned with the runway and its pilot was disoriented and tried to land in "sheer desperation" when the plane crashed.

In 2015, a Turkish Airlines jet landing in dense fog skidded off a slippery runway at the airport. The plane was carrying 238 people but there were no serious injuries.

Agencies - Xinhua