Pilot is sole survivor after plane carrying 19 people crashes in Nepal
The pilot is the only survivor after a domestic plane carrying 19 people crashed shortly after takeoff in Nepal.
The plane was carrying two crew members and 17 technicians to the city of Pokhara for maintenance checks, airport security chief Arjun Chand Thakuri said.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has said the Saurya Airlines plane had taken off at around 11.10am local time (6.25am UK time) from Tribhuvan International Airport in the capital Kathmandu.
The plane was in the air when it turned right and crashed in the eastern section of the airport, the statement added.
TV broadcasts have shown the plane flying a little above the runway and then tilting before it crashed.
They also showed firefighters trying to put out the flaming wreckage as thick black smoke rose into the sky.
The fire has now been brought under control as images show rescue workers rummaging through the charred remains of the plane.
Police official Basanta Rajauri said authorities have pulled out the bodies of all 18 people who died.
“Only the captain was rescued alive and is receiving treatment at a hospital,” said Tej Bahadur Poudyal, the spokesman for Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport.
The pilot was taken to Kathmandu Medical College Hospital with eye injuries but his condition is not life-threatening, a doctor at the hospital said.
It is not yet clear what caused the crash.
It is monsoon rainy season in Kathmandu but it was not raining at the time of the crash. However, visibility was low across the capital.
Saurya operates domestic flights in Nepal with two Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets, both around 20 years old, according to Flight Radar 24.
Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, was temporarily closed following the crash but has since reopened, an official said.
Nepal has been criticised for a poor air safety record, with nearly 350 people having died in plane or helicopter crashes in the Himalayan country since 2000.
The deadliest incident occurred in 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus crashed into a hillside while approaching Kathmandu, killing 167 people.
