A passenger plane crashed on takeoff in Kathmandu on Wednesday, killing all 18 people on board, according to police in Nepal’s capital.
Nepal has a poor track record in aviation safety, with a number of tragic light plane and helicopter crashes throughout the years.
The Saurya Airlines flight was carrying two crew members and 17 employees, Nepali police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki said AFP.
“The pilot has been rescued and is being treated,” she said. “Eighteen bodies have been found, including one foreigner. We are in the process of transporting them for post-mortem.”
Gyanendra Bhul of Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority told AFP that the flight was for technical or maintenance purposes.
Bahadur and Bhul were unable to confirm the nationality of the only foreigner on board.
The Nepalese military published images of the aftermath, which showed the plane’s fuselage torn apart and burned to a husk.
Around a dozen soldiers in camouflage stood on top of the debris, with the surrounding ground doused in fire retardant.
According to a military statement, the jet crashed around 11:15 a.m. (0530 GMT), and the army’s quick response team was assisting with rescue efforts.
Khabarhub said that the plane caught fire after skidding on the runway.
The jet was scheduled to fly between Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal’s busiest air route and a major tourist destination.
According to its website, Saurya Airlines exclusively operates Bombardier CRJ 200 planes.
Plagued By Poor Safety
Nepal’s air industry has expanded in recent years, transporting goods and people between remote places, as well as foreign trekkers and climbers.
However, limited training and upkeep have resulted in poor safety, which is exacerbated by the mountainous republic’s dangerous topography.
Due to safety concerns, the European Union has barred all Nepali carriers from its airspace.
The Himalayan country features some of the world’s most difficult runways to land on, flanked by snow-capped peaks and approaches that provide a challenge even for experienced pilots.
The weather can also change quickly in the highlands, making flying hazardous.
Nepal’s latest major commercial flight accident occurred in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines service crashed on landing in Pokhara, killing all 72 people on board.
That was Nepal’s bloodiest accident since 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed on its approach to Kathmandu airport, killing all 167 persons on board.
Earlier that year, a Thai Airways flight crashed near the same airport, killing 113 people.