Nepal plane crash: Pilot sole survivor in crash that killed 18 people

A shocking video has captured the exact moment a Saurya Airlines plane crashed during takeoff at Nepal's Kathmandu airport on July 24.

Updated on: Jul 24, 2024, 14:54:24 IST

Edited by Sanya Jain

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A shocking video has captured the exact moment a Saurya Airlines plane crashed during takeoff at Nepal's Kathmandu airport this morning. Nineteen people, including crew, were on board the Pokhara-bound flight which crashed around 11 am at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport. At least 18 are believed to have died in the crash, with the pilot being the sole survivor, according to local media reports.

Nepal plane crash: An aircraft crashed during take-off from Kathmandu airport. (X/@NirajNPL)

A video shows the Saurya Airlines plane crashing in a burst of flames soon after take-off. Clouds of grey smoke billowed from the aircraft after the crash.

The pilot of the plane was reportedly the sole survivor of the crash. He was taken to Kathmandu Medical College Hospital for treatment, reported AFP. He suffered injuries to his eyes but is now out of danger.

The 50-seater aircraft was carrying 17 crew members and two passengers.

"Eighteen bodies have been recovered, including one foreigner," police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP. "We are in the process of taking them for post-mortem."

Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport of Nepal, has been shut down while authorities investigate the reasons for the crash.

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, reports Reuters.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More