Plane crashes just after takeoff from Nepal's capital, killing 18 people. Pilot is lone survivor

A domestic plane slipped off the runway and crashed Wednesday while trying to take off from the airport serving Nepal’s capital, killing the 18 passengers and injuring the pilot.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A plane crashed Wednesday just after taking off from Nepal’s capital, killing 18 people and injuring a pilot who was the lone survivor.

Police official Basanta Rajauri said authorities have pulled out all 18 bodies. The pilot has injuries to his eyes but his life is not in any danger, said a doctor at Kathmandu Medical College Hospital, where the pilot is being treated. The doctor spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to media.

A press statement issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said the Saurya Airlines domestic plane, which was scheduled to head to the resort town of Pokhara, took off at 11:11 a.m. local time from Kathmandu airport and turned right but crashed moments later in the eastern section of the airport.

It is monsoon rain season in Kathmandu but was not raining at the time of the crash. Visibility was low across the capital, however.

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, and is surrounded by houses and neighborhoods.

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. The crew and 16 passengers were Nepali nationals and one passenger was identified as a Yemeni national.

Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, has been closed as emergency crew and investigators began their work.

Saurya Airlines operates the Bombardier CRJ 200 on domestic routes.

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.