A passenger plane has crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, killing 18 people, aviation officials say.
The pilot was the only survivor of Wednesday’s crash and was being treated in hospital, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement.
Nineteen people were on the test flight conducted by the domestic carrier Saurya Airlines, including technical staff members and two crew members.
The incident took place right after the 11:11am (05:26 GMT) takeoff of the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200, the aviation authority said. The plane then turned right and crashed into the eastern section of the airport, the statement said. It was on its way to the resort town of of Pokhara. The cause of the crash is being investigated.
A doctor at Kathmandu Medical College Hospital told The Associated Press news agency that the pilot had suffered injuries to the eyes “but is not in any danger”.
Eighteen Nepalis, including one child, and a Yemeni national were on the plane, the aviation authority confirmed.
The bodies were taken to the TU Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for autopsy.
Images of the aftermath shared by Nepal’s military showed the plane’s fuselage split apart and charred.
Broadcast images showed the bodies being carried to ambulances on stretchers. Other visuals showed rescue workers rummaging through the burned remains of the plane.
Poor safety record
Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, was closed for several hours as emergency workers and investigators began their work.
The airport 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 a mountain to land.
Nepal’s aviation industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as local and international trekkers and climbers.
But the Himalayan country has a poor aviation safety record with a spate of deadly light plane and helicopter crashes over the decades.
Much of this is attributed to insufficient training and maintenance, which are compounded by the country’s treacherous geography.
Nepal also has some of the world’s trickiest runways to land on. Many are flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.
The weather can change quickly in the mountains, creating dangerous flying conditions.
Nepal’s last major commercial flight accident was in January 2023 when a Yeti Airlines flight crashed while landing at Pokhara, killing all 72 people on board.
In 2018, at least 49 people were killed when a Bangladeshi plane carrying more than 70 people crashed and burst into flames as it landed in Kathmandu.
In 1992, all 167 people on board a Pakistan International Airlines plane died when it crashed on approach at Kathmandu airport.
Earlier that same year, a Thai Airways aircraft had crashed near the same airport, killing 113 people.
