Photo Credit: Reuters
Eighteen people lost their lives in a tragic plane crash on Wednesday when a Saurya Airlines flight caught fire during takeoff from Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. The pilot, who is currently hospitalized, is the sole survivor after being rescued from the burning wreckage.
The ill-fated flight was carrying 17 Saurya Airlines employees, including technical staff, along with two crew members. It was en route to Pokhara, a renowned Himalayan tourism hub in western Nepal, for a routine maintenance check.
Nepal's aviation industry has long been plagued by safety concerns, attributed to factors such as unpredictable weather and lax regulations. This incident adds to the country's troubling aviation safety record.
According to a statement by the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority's search and rescue coordination center, the crash occurred at approximately 11:15 local time (05:30 GMT), just minutes after takeoff from Tribhuvan International Airport.
Police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki told BBC Nepali that the pilot sustained injuries to his eyes and forehead but is not in life-threatening condition.
Eyewitnesses described the horrifying scene. A man inside a nearby shop recounted hearing a loud noise, thinking it might be a truck accident. "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.
Jagannath Niraula, the airport chief, said the accident occurred almost immediately after takeoff. Initial assessments indicated that the plane had veered in the wrong direction. "As soon as it took off, it turned right when it should have turned left," Niraula told BBC Nepali.
Footage of the incident showed the plane tilting above the runway before crashing and bursting into flames. Photos from the scene revealed rescue workers navigating through the charred wreckage, with large parts of the plane completely blackened. Parts of the plane were also seen inside an air freight container.
Emergency services, including fire engines and ambulances, responded swiftly to the crash site. Seventeen of the victims were Nepali, and one was a Yemeni national working as an engineer.
Saurya Airlines marketing head Mukesh Khanal told Reuters that the plane was scheduled for maintenance starting Thursday and expressed uncertainty about the crash's cause.
Kathmandu's airport temporarily closed following the crash but reopened within hours. Nepal has faced repeated criticism for its poor air safety record, highlighted by a Yeti Airlines crash in January 2023 that killed at least 72 people and a 1992 Pakistan International Airlines crash that resulted in 167 fatalities.
Saurya Airlines operates flights to five destinations within Nepal with a fleet of three Bombardier CRJ-200 jets, according to the company's website.
