UPDATED: Nepal plane crash kills 18, pilot sole survivor
Agency Report
A devastating plane crash at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport has resulted in the deaths of 18 people, with the pilot being the sole survivor. The accident occurred on Wednesday during takeoff, according to Nepali police.
The Saurya Airlines flight, which was carrying two crew members and 17 staff members, crashed shortly after departing. The plane veered off to the right and plummeted on the east side of the runway, igniting a fire upon impact. The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that among the deceased was a Yemeni national.
Ram Kumar K.C., who operates a tire store near the crash site, recounted seeing the plane catch fire and hearing an explosion as he and others nearby tried to flee the scene. The aircraft’s fuselage was severely damaged, and images from the scene show the plane burned and split apart.
The surviving pilot is in serious condition and is receiving treatment in the hospital. The flight was reportedly on a technical or maintenance mission, though further details have not been provided by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Nepal’s aviation industry has been marred by safety issues due to inadequate training and maintenance, exacerbated by the country’s challenging geography. The European Union has imposed a ban on all Nepali carriers due to safety concerns.
Nepal’s last significant aviation disaster occurred in January 2023 when a Yeti Airlines flight crashed during landing at Pokhara, killing all 72 people onboard. This incident followed previous major crashes, including a 1992 disaster involving Pakistan International Airlines and another in the same year with Thai Airways, both occurring near Kathmandu.
A passenger plane crashed on take-off in Kathmandu on Wednesday, with the pilot rescued from the wreckage but all 18 others aboard killed, police in the Nepali capital told AFP.
Nepal has a woeful track record on aviation safety and the Himalayan republic has seen a spate of deadly light plane and helicopter crashes over the decades.
The Saurya Airlines flight was carrying two crew and 17 of the company’s staff members, Nepali police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki said.
Security personnel gather near the burning Saurya Airlines flight after it crashed during takeoff at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on July 24, 2024. (Photo by Umesh KARKI / AFP)
“The pilot has been rescued and is being treated,” he said. “Eighteen bodies have been recovered, including one foreigner. We are in the process of taking them for post-mortem.”
The Civil Aviation Authority said the dead foreigner was a Yemeni citizen.
A news release from the airport said the aircraft “veered off to the right and crashed on the east side of the runway” shortly after take-off.
The survivor was in serious condition in hospital, it said.
Ram Kumar K.C., who runs a tyre store near the crash site, told AFP the plane caught fire after hitting the ground.
“We were about to run to the site but then there was an explosion so we ran away again,” the 48-year-old said.
The flight was being conducted for either technical or maintenance purposes, Gyanendra Bhul of Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority told AFP, without giving further details.
Images of the aftermath shared by Nepal’s military showed the plane’s fuselage split apart and burnt to a husk. Around a dozen soldiers in camouflage gear stood on top of the wreckage, the surrounding earth coated in fire retardant.
Security personnel inspect the remains of a Saurya Airlines flight after it crashed during takeoff at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on July 24, 2024. (Photo by PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP)
Dozens of grieving relatives gathered later outside a nearby hospital where the bodies were transported from the crash scene.
The plane was scheduled to fly on Nepal’s busiest air route between Kathmandu and Pokhara, an important tourism hub. Saurya Airlines exclusively flies Bombardier CRJ 200 jets, according to its website.
– Plagued by poor safety –
Nepal’s air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as foreign trekkers and climbers.
But it has been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance, issues compounded by mountainous Nepal’s treacherous geography.
The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over safety concerns.
Nepal has some of the world’s trickiest runways on which to land, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.
The plane was scheduled to fly on Nepal’s busiest air route between Kathmandu and Pokhara, an important tourism hub.
Saurya Airlines exclusively flies Bombardier CRJ 200 jets, according to its website.
– Plagued by poor safety –
Nepal’s air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as foreign trekkers and climbers.
But it has been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance, issues compounded by mountainous Nepal’s treacherous geography.
The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over safety concerns.
Nepal has some of the world’s trickiest runways on which to land, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.
The weather can also change quickly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions.
Nepal’s last major incident involving a commercial flight was in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines service crashed while landing at Pokhara, killing all 72 aboard.
That was Nepal’s deadliest since 1992 when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu airport.
A Thai Airways aircraft crashed near the same airport earlier that year, killing 113 people.
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