Last Updated on 24/07/2024 by Ankita Jain
A plane crashed at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal on Wednesday. The Saurya Airlines plane carrying 19 passengers from Kathmandu to Pokhara slid on the ground after take-off and caught fire within no time. 18 passengers lost their lives in this accident and one pilot was rescued.
A video of the accident has surfaced in which it can be seen that the plane slides on the runway immediately after take-off and catches fire.
Eyewitnesses told local media that the plane was taking off from the southern end of the runway. Suddenly the plane turned and after a jolt, it collided with the ground. As soon as it hit the ground, the aircraft caught fire and after that the plane fell into a ditch on the eastern side of the runway.
After the accident, a cloud of smoke started appearing all over the airport. Police and firefighters are engaged in rescue operations at the accident site.
According to a report in Nepal’s newspaper, ‘The Kathmandu Post’, as soon as the plane overturned, it caught fire and black smoke started coming out. Within no time, black smoke spread all over the airport.
18 people died, the pilot survived
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has confirmed the death of 18 out of 19 people on board the plane. All these passengers were airline staff. The plane took off from Tribhuvan Airport for Pokhara at 11:11 am and crashed in the eastern part of the airport after travelling some distance on the runway.
The pilot of the plane, 37-year-old Captain M R Shakya, survived the crash and was rescued from the crash site. He is being treated in the hospital.
It is being told that the plane was a Bombardier CRJ-200ER which was manufactured in the year 2003. The airline staff was taking the plane for repairs. The airline has said that the plane was going to Pokhara so that its technical inspection could be done after repairs. The aircraft took off from Runway 2 and crashed on Runway 20.
The reason for the accident came to light
Initial information about the plane crash states that the plane took a wrong turn. The plane was supposed to turn left after takeoff but it turned right and crashed within a minute of takeoff.
The series of plane accidents is not stopping in Nepal
Plane accidents are not a new thing in Nepal, in fact, in January last year itself, a major plane accident took place there in which 72 people were killed. The Yeti Airlines plane crashed before landing at Pokhara airport in which all the passengers on board were killed.
In May 2022, 22 people were killed in another plane crash in Nepal. The plane was going from Pokhara to Josmos and then crashed. Another major plane crash in Nepal took place in March 2018 in which 51 people were killed. The plane was coming from Bangladesh to Nepal and crashed at Tribhuvan Airport.