A plane crashed and caught fire while taking off from Kathmandu, Nepal, killing 18 people. The pilot is the only survivor and is currently in the hospital.
The Saurya Airlines plane was carrying 17 airline employees, including technical staff, and two crew members. It was heading to Pokhara, a popular tourist spot in the Himalayas.
Nepal’s aviation industry is known for its poor safety due to factors like unpredictable weather and loose regulations.
The plane took off from Tribhuvan International Airport around 11:15 AM local time (05:30 GMT) and crashed a few minutes later. According to the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority, the plane was on a routine maintenance check flight.
A police spokesperson said the pilot was injured but his life is not in danger. A witness near the crash site described hearing a loud noise, seeing the plane hit the ground, and then an explosion.
The airport chief said the accident happened right after the plane left the ground. Initial assessments suggest the plane flew in the wrong direction, turning right instead of left.
Footage showed the plane tilting above the runway before crashing and catching fire. Photos revealed rescue workers at the scene, with large parts of the plane burned and charred.
Seventeen of the victims were Nepali, and one was a Yemeni engineer. The plane was scheduled for maintenance starting the next day, and it’s unclear why it crashed. Kathmandu’s airport was temporarily closed after the crash but reopened within hours.
Nepal has a history of poor air safety. In January 2023, 72 people died in a Yeti Airlines crash due to pilot error. The worst air crash in Nepal’s history happened in 1992, killing 167 people on a Pakistan International Airlines plane.
Saurya Airlines operates flights to five destinations in Nepal with three Bombardier CRJ-200 jets.