Pilot lone survivor in Nepal plane crash that killed 18 others

A plane crashed Wednesday just after taking off from Nepal's capital of Kathmandu, killing 18 people and injuring a pilot who was the lone survivor.

Authorities have pulled all 18 bodies from the wreckage, police official Basanta Rajauri said.

The Bombardier CRJ 200 plane was heading to Nepal's second-most populous city of Pokhara for maintenance work and most of the passengers aboard were either mechanics or airline employees, airport officials said. They were speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

The plane took off from the Kathmandu airport at 11:11 a.m. local time and turned right but crashed moments later in the eastern section of the airport, the Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.

"I came out and saw a plane had crashed and there was huge smoke and fire coming out," said Ram Kumar Khatri Chetri, who own a car parts store barely 100 metres from the crash site.

"There was chaos and confusion," he said. "It was just horrible and there was no way that anyone could just go near the plane and help out when there was so much fire and even explosions."

The bodies have been taken to the T.U. Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for autopsy. The airline manifest showed there were two pilots and 17 passengers on board, all but one male. The crew and 16 passengers were Nepali nationals, with one identified as a citizen of Yemen.

Grieving relatives gathered at the hospital forensics department to collect the bodies of their loved ones, although they are not likely to be released for a day or two.

Co-pilot Sasant Katuwal had been flying for the past three years after completing training in France, his uncle Dhyan Bahadur Khadka said at the hospital. He had just received a visa to go to Germany for further training and was excited about that, Khadka said.

Khadka said his nephew had a bright future in aviation.

"His parents are grieving the loss of their only child," Khadka said. "He was unmarried. He was not just tall and handsome, but he was well-behaved."

Frequent crashes

Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, has been closed as emergency crew and investigators began their work. It is monsoon rainy season in Kathmandu but was not raining at the time of the crash. Visibility was low across the capital, however. Saurya Airlines operates the Bombardier CRJ 200 on domestic routes.

The Kathmandu airport, the main airport serving Nepal, is located inside a valley surrounded by mountains on most sides. It is considered a challenging airport for pilots and bigger planes have to come through an opening on the mountain to land. It is right next to the city. The airport is surrounded by houses and neighbourhoods.

In 2019, a Bangladeshi airliner crashed at Tribhuvan airport, killing 51 people while 20 on board survived. An investigation confirmed the plane was misaligned with the runway and its pilot was disoriented and tried to land in "sheer desperation" when the plane crashed.

In 2015, a Turkish Airlines jet landing in dense fog skidded off a slippery runway at the airport. The plane was carrying 238 people but there were no serious injuries.