At least 18 people died after a Saurya Airlines plane crashed and caught fire while taking off from the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, on Wednesday (24/07).
The pilot of the plane was the only survivor of the fatal crash. He is currently receiving treatment at the hospital
A total of 19 people were on the Saurya Airlines test flight, including the airline’s technical staff and two cabin crew.
Saurya Airlines operates flights to five destinations in Nepal. The airline has three Bombardier CRJ-200 jets, according to the airline’s website.
How did the pilot survive?
The pilot who survived a deadly plane crash in Nepal was taken to rescue teams after part of the cockpit became caught in a container seconds before the entire plane burst into flames.
Captain Manish Ratna Shakya, the sole survivor of the disaster that killed 18 people at Kathmandu Airport, was hospitalized. SEMISLOT88 Nepali has confirmed that he can speak and was able to tell family members that he is “doing well”.
Rescuers told SEMISLOT88 that they were able to save the pilot as the flames approached the cockpit of the plane which was stuck inside the container.
“He was facing difficulty breathing as the air shield was open. We broke the window and immediately pulled him out,” said Nepal Police Senior Inspector Dambar Bishwakarma.
“His face was covered in blood when he was rescued, but we took him to hospital in a condition that allowed him to talk,” he added.
Nepal’s Minister of Civil Aviation, Badri Pandey, explained that the plane suddenly turned right when taking off from the airport, before crashing onto the east side of the runway.
CCTV footage shows the burning plane hurtling across the airport, then parts of the plane’s fuselage appear to fall into the valley at the end of the airport.
“The plane hit a container at the edge of the airport… and then, fell further down,” Pandey said. “However, the cockpit remained stuck inside the container. That’s why the captain survived.”
“Other parts of the plane fell onto a nearby mound and shattered into pieces. The entire area away from the area where the cockpit crashed caught fire,” Pandey said.
The pilot was “rescued within five minutes of the crash” and “was very scared but had not lost consciousness at that time”, according to a statement issued by the Nepalese military. A military ambulance then took him to hospital.
According to the hospital’s medical director, Dr. Meena Thapa, the pilot, suffered injuries to his head and face. He will soon undergo surgery to treat the broken bones in his back.
“We have treated injuries in various parts of his body,” Thapa told SEMISLOT88, “He is under observation in the neurosurgery department.”
How did this incident happen?
The incident occurred at around 11:15 local time (05:30 GMT), minutes after the plane took off from Tribhuvan International Airport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal’s search and rescue coordination center said in a statement.
The Saurya Airlines plane was conducting a test flight to Pokhara, a popular tourist destination.
The head of Tribhuvan International Airport, Jagannath Niraula, told SEMISLOT88 that the accident “occurred immediately after the plane took off, within a minute in fact”.
Until now, airport authorities have not been able to confirm the cause of the accident. However, Jagannath Niraula said initial assessments showed the plane was flying in the wrong direction.
“When taking off, the plane turned right, even though it should have turned left,” Jagannath Niraula told SEMISLOT88.
Photos showed rescue workers walking through the wreckage. Some parts of the plane were completely black and charred.
Previous images showed the plane engulfed in flames and smoke. Fire engines and ambulances were dispatched to the location after the incident.
A total of 17 of the victims who died were Nepalese, while one was a Yemeni citizen who worked as an engineer.
An airport official said “there was a cracking sound” from the plane.
Nepal’s aviation industry has a poor safety record – this is due to a variety of factors, from unpredictable weather to lax regulations.
In January 2023, at least 72 people died in the Yeti Airlines crash. Later, this incident was said to be related to the moment when the pilot mistakenly cut off the electricity.
It was the deadliest air crash in Nepal since 1992. At that time all 167 people on board a Pakistan International Airlines plane died after the plane crashed while approaching Kathmandu Airport.
