Miracle of Nepal: Pilot is sole survivor after passenger plane crashes off runway and explodes in flames
24 July 2024, 10:58 | Updated: 24 July 2024, 11:51
Plane crashes in Nepal
A pilot is the sole survivor after a passenger plane crashed off a runway in Nepal and exploded into flames.
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The Saurya Airlines plane was seen flying low above the runway before tilting to the side and then diving nose-first towards the ground.
The incident happened during take-off at around 11.11am local time, a statement from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said.
It added that the aircraft had already taken off and turned right before it crashed in the eastern section of the airport.
Two crew members and 17 technicians were heading from Kathmandu to Pokhara city to repair another aircraft, officials said.
"Only the captain was rescued alive and is receiving treatment at a hospital," Tej Bahadur Poudyal, the spokesman for Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport, said.
Plumes of smoke were seen coming from the runway, with bystanders witnessing the incident from an airport shuttle bus.
Rescue workers were seen going through the plane wreckage which was scattered all over a ditch.
The pilot has injuries to his eyes but they are not life-threatening, a doctor at the Kathmandu Medical College Hospital said.
Tribhuvan International Airport, which is the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, has been closed while emergency services attend the scene.
Saurya operates domestic flights in Nepal with two Bombardier CRJ-200 jets - both around 20 years old - according to Flight Radar 24.
It is monsoon rainy season in Kathmandu but it was not raining at the time of the crash. Visibility was low across the capital, however.
Nepal has been criticised for a poor air safety record, and nearly 350 people have died in plane or helicopter crashes in the Himalayan country since 2000.
