Emergency workers attend scene of Nepal plane crash
A plane crashed and caught fire on Wednesday while it was taking off from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, killing about eighteen people.
The lone survivor of the deadly crash is the pilot, who is presently undergoing medical attention in a hospital.
Two crew members and members of the airline's technical team made up the nineteen passengers on the Saurya Airlines test flight.
The poor safety record of Nepal's aviation sector has been ascribed to a number of things throughout the years, including erratic weather patterns and loose rules.
The incident occurred shortly after the jet took off from the Tribhuvan International Airport, at approximately 11:15 local time (05:30 GMT), according to a statement from the search and rescue coordination center of the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority.
As part of a regular maintenance check, Saurya Airlines conducted a test flight on Wednesday that was intended to arrive in Pokhara.
Although airport officials have not been able to determine what caused the disaster, airport chief Jagannath Niraula told BBC Nepali that it "happened as soon as it left the ground, in not even a minute".
But according to the head of Tribhuvan International Airport, preliminary analysis revealed that the aircraft had flown in the incorrect direction.
The plane can be seen leaning above the runway in the incident footage before falling into the earth and catching fire. It was soon covered with smoke and flames.
Images of the wreckage show rescuers picking their way through the burned and blackened remains of the aircraft. Parts of the aircraft looked to be inside an air freight container in photos taken in the aftermath.
Following the event, ambulances and fire engines were dispatched to the scene.
Of the deceased, one was an engineer from Yemen and the other seventeen were Nepali nationals.
According to BBC Nepali, police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki stated that although the pilot has bruises on his forehead and eyes, he is not in any serious danger.
Nepal's track record on flight safety has drawn criticism. At least 72 passengers perished in a Yeti Airlines disaster in January 2023, which was subsequently linked to the pilots' error in turning off the power.
The plane crash that killed all 167 passengers on board Pakistan International Airlines when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu Airport in 1992 was the biggest aviation accident to occur in Nepal to date.
On its website, Saruya Airlines states that it flies three Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft to five different locations in Nepal.