At least 18 people were killed when a small plane crashed and caught fire while it was taking off from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu on Wednesday, officials said.

The plane was carrying two crew members and 17 technicians to Pokhara city to repair another aircraft, officials said.

“Only the captain was rescued alive and is receiving treatment at a hospital,” said Tej Bahadur Poudyal, the spokesman for Kathmandu‘s Tribhuvan International Airport.

Television visuals showed fire fighters trying to put out the blaze and thick black smoke rising into the sky. They also showed the plane flying a little above the runway and then tilting before it crashed.

The plane belonged to local Saurya Airlines, media said. Saurya operates domestic flights in Nepal with two Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets, both around 20 years old, according to Flight Radar 24.

Nepal has been criticised for its poor air safety record, with the deadliest incident occurring in 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus crashed into a hillside while approaching Kathmandu, killing 167 people.

Most recently, at least 72 people were killed in a Yeti airlines crash in January 2023 that was later attributed to the pilots mistakenly cutting off power.

(Reuters)