A plane carrying 19 passengers crashed during takeoff in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu on Wednesday morning, with fire crews working to douse the flaming wreckage.
The Saurya Airlines plane crashed at around 11:15 am (0530 GMT), Nepal’s military disclosed in a statement.
“Rescue work is going on” with the army’s quick response team lending assistance, the statement added.
Further details were “still being confirmed,” Kathmandu airport general manager Jagannath Niroula told AFP.
The Kathmandu Post newspaper said that 19 individuals, including air staff, were on board the aeroplane.
According to Khabarhub, the plane caught fire after sliding on the runway and was “releasing a significant plume of smoke.”.
The plane was flying to Pokhara, an important tourist destination in the Himalayan region. According to its website, Saurya Airlines exclusively operates Bombardier CRJ 200 planes.
Nepal’s air industry has expanded in recent years, transporting goods and people between remote places, as well as foreign trekkers and climbers.
However, insufficient training and upkeep have resulted in poor safety.
Due to safety concerns, the European Union has barred all Nepali carriers from its airspace.
Nepal’s poor record in aviation safety has been exacerbated by its dangerous environment.
The Himalayan country features some of the world’s most difficult runways to land on, flanked by snow-capped peaks and approaches that provide a challenge even for experienced pilots.
The weather can also change quickly in the Highlands, making flying hazardous.
Nepal’s latest major commercial flight accident occurred in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines service crashed on landing in Pokhara, killing all 72 people on board.
That was Nepal’s bloodiest accident since 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed on its approach to Kathmandu airport, killing all 167 people on board.
Earlier that year, a Thai Airways flight crashed near the same airport, killing 113 people.
Authorities have yet to reveal the identities of passengers aboard.
