While taking off from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, a plane crashed and caught fire, killing eighteen people.
The pilot, who was pulled from the flaming wreckage on Wednesday, is the only survivor of the tragic accident and is presently undergoing treatment in a hospital.
The Nepal Civil Aviation Authority Gives Their Statement
Two crew members and seventeen corporate personnel, including technical staff, were on board the Saurya Airlines aircraft. It was headed west, to Pokhara, the popular tourist destination in the Himalayas.
The aviation sector in Nepal has a dismal safety record, which has been ascribed to a number of things over the years, including erratic weather patterns and loose laws.
In a statement from the search and rescue coordination center of the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority, it was stated that the aircraft, which was on its way to Pokhara for a standard maintenance inspection, crashed at approximately 11:15 local time (05:30 GMT), just a few minutes after takeoff from Tribhuvan International Airport.
The pilot got injuries to his eyes and forehead, according to police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki, but his life was not in jeopardy, as BBC Nepali was informed.
The Cause Of The Kathmandu Incident
One man who was inside a nearby shop when the accident occurred said: “There was a very loud noise, it sounded like maybe a truck had overturned on the road. “We ran after we saw [the crash]. The plane then hit the ground and caught fire. We were about to run to the site but then there was an explosion so we ran away again,” he told AFP news agency.
Even though airport officials have not been able to determine what caused the incident, airport chief Jagannath Niraula told BBC Nepali that it “happened as soon as it left the ground, in not even a minute”.
However, according to the head of Tribhuvan International Airport, preliminary analysis revealed that the aircraft had flown in the incorrect direction. “As soon as it took off, it turned right, [when it] should have turned left,” Mr. Niraula told BBC Nepali.
Kathmandu Airport Closes And Reopens Soon After?
The plane was captured on camera bending above the runway and then crashing into the earth, catching fire. It was soon covered with smoke and flames. Pictures showed rescuers sifting through the debris, much of the aircraft was severely burned and blackened. Parts of the aircraft looked to be inside an air freight container in photos taken in the aftermath.
Following the event, ambulances and fire engines were dispatched to the scene. Of the deceased, seventeen were Nepali nationals and one was an engineer by nationality from Yemen. “The plane was scheduled to undergo maintenance for a month beginning Thursday… It is unclear why it crashed,” said Saurya Airlines marketing head Mukesh Khanal, Reuters news agency reports.
Following the incident, Kathmandu’s airport briefly shuttered but reopened in a matter of hours, according to Reuters.
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