A Saurya Airlines plane carrying two crew members and 17 passengers crashes shortly after takeoff and catches fire.
A passenger plane crashed and caught fire shortly after takeoff from Nepal's capital Kathmandu, killing 18 people, aviation officials said.
The pilot was the only survivor of Wednesday's crash and was being treated in hospital, Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.
Nineteen people, including technical staff and two crew members, were travelling on the test flight conducted by the national carrier Saurya Airlines.
The incident occurred shortly after takeoff at 11:11 a.m. (05:26 GMT) of the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200, the aviation authority said. The plane veered to the right and crashed into the eastern section of the airport, the statement said. It was heading to the tourist city of Pokhara. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
A doctor at Kathmandu Medical College Hospital told The Associated Press that the pilot had suffered eye injuries “but is not in any danger.”
Eighteen Nepalese nationals, including a child, and a Yemeni national were on board, the aviation authority confirmed.
The bodies were taken to TU University Hospital in Kathmandu for autopsy.
Saurya Airlines flight 9N-AME crash@TIACAO2 Press release – 2 image.twitter.com/5LzBHpqhZI
— Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (@hello_CAANepal) July 24, 2024
Images of the incident shared by the Nepalese military show the plane's fuselage broken into pieces and charred.
Television footage showed bodies being carried on stretchers into ambulances. Other images showed rescue workers searching through the charred wreckage of the plane.
Poor safety record
Tribhuvan International Airport, Nepal's main airport for domestic and international flights, was closed for several hours as emergency workers and investigators began their work.
The airport is located within a valley surrounded by mountains on most sides. It is considered a challenging airport for pilots, and larger planes have to pass through an opening in a mountain to land.
Nepal’s aviation industry has boomed in recent years, transporting goods and people between hard-to-reach areas, as well as local and international trekkers and climbers.
But the Himalayan country has a poor record on air safety, with a series of fatal accidents involving light aircraft and helicopters over the decades.
Much of this is attributed to inadequate training and maintenance, coupled with the country's dangerous geography.
Nepal also has some of the most difficult airstrips in the world. Many are flanked by snow-capped peaks and the approaches pose a challenge to even the most experienced pilots.
Weather can change rapidly in the mountains, creating dangerous flying conditions.
Nepal's last major commercial air accident occurred in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines flight crashed while landing in 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 upon landing in Kathmandu.
In 1992, all 167 people on board a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when the plane crashed on approach to Kathmandu airport.
Earlier that year, a Thai Airways plane crashed near the same airport, killing 113 people.
