Kathmandu: Plane Crashes During Takeoff; 18 Dead, Pilot Survives

POKHRA: In a fatal incident, eighteen passengers have been tragically killed as a Saurya Airlines flight, 9N-AME (CRJ 200), skidded off the runway while taking off from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu on Wednesday morning.

The unfortunate accident took place at approximately 11 am as the aircraft, with nineteen people onboard, was departing for Pokhara.

As per sources, the plane caught fire upon impact, but the flames was swiftly extinguished by emergency responders. 

The aircraft's pilot, identified as 37-year-old Manish Shakya, was successfully rescued from the wreckage and transported to a nearby hospital in Sinamangal to undergo treatment. No further updates regarding the condition of the pilot have been released.

Gyanendra Bhul, the information officer at the TIA, revealed that the occupants of the plane included technical staff of the airline.

Smoke was seen billowing from the plane immediately after the crash. Rescue operations are currently underway and police personnel and firefighters have been deployed to the site to oversee it.

According to eyewitnesses quoted by The Kathmandu Post, the wing-tip hit the ground while taking off, as a result of which, the plane flipped.

They said that the aircraft immediately caught fire due to the impact of the collision, following which, it plunged into a gorge on the eastern side of the runway.

It is worth noting that the airline was acquired by India's Kuber Group in 2019 for 630 million Nepali rupees. In 2021, reports surfaced that the airline would rebrand itself as Kuber Airlines, but it was put on hold.

Meanwhile, in January last year, 72 people, including five Indian nationals, had tragically lost their lives after a Yeti Airlines flight had crashed just before landing in Nepal’s tourist city of Pokhara.

ALSO READ: New Delhi: Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi to Meet Farmer Leaders in Parliament

ALSO WATCH: