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2 killed as small plane crash lands in Nepal
A small plane with 11 people on board has crash landed in Nepal’s mountainous west, an official said
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The pilot and co-pilot were killed when a small plane with 11 on board crash landed in western Nepal on Friday, two days after 23 people died in another crash.
The single engine PAC P-750 aircraft of Air Kasthmandap was flying from Nepaganj to Jumla when it crash landed at Chilkhaya village in Kalikot district nearly 25 minutes after take-off.
“Both the pilot and co-pilot were killed due to injuries sustained from the impact of the accident,” Pradeep Shrestha, chief district officer of Kalikot, told Hindustan Times.
The injured passengers, two of them in a critical condition, were airlifted in helicopters to Nepalganj after receiving initial treatment at a health post.
Reports quoted witnesses as saying the plane crash landed in a wheat field.
Read | Wreckage of missing plane found in Nepal; all 23 aboard dead
Pilot Dinesh Neupane died instantly while co-pilot Santosh Rana succumbed to his injuries an hour after the accident.
Preliminary reports said the plane could not land in Jumla due to a glitch. Witnesses said the plane went into a steep descent before it crash landed.
It takes about four hours to travel from the district headquarters to the site of the accident, including a three-hour trek. Shrestha said two helicopters were deployed for the search and rescue operations.
This was the second air accident in Nepal since Wednesday, when a Twin Otter aircraft of the private Tara Air crashed in Myagdi district, killing all 20 passengers and three crew members on board.
Air Kasthmandap is a small airline that started operations in 2009 with two single engine aircraft capable of extreme short take-offs and landings. It mainly operates in hilly remote areas.
Officials of the airline office were unavailable for comment.
