Eighteen people have lost their lives after a Saurya Airlines aircraft skidded off the runway and caught fire during takeoff at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday morning.
The ill-fated plane was en route to Pokhara for maintenance checks, carrying two crew members and 17 technicians, according to Airport Security Chief Arjun Chand Thakuri.
Pilot Manish Shankya was rescued and taken to a nearby hospital where he is being treated for a head injury. The Nepal army is leading the rescue operations.
Eyewitnesses, quoted by The Kathmandu Post, reported that the aircraft flipped over after its wingtip struck the ground during takeoff, igniting a fire and causing it to plunge into a gorge on the eastern side of the runway.
The plane was one of two Bombardier CRJ-200 jets operated by Saurya Airlines, both around 20 years old, according to Flight Radar 24.
This incident adds to Nepal’s troubling aviation history. In January last year, 72 people, including five Indians, perished in a Yeti Airlines crash near Pokhara. Since 2000, nearly 350 people have died in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal, with the deadliest being a 1992 crash involving a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus that killed 167 people.
