A tragic accident occurred on Wednesday morning when a Saurya Airlines flight skidded off the runway during takeoff from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. The incident, which took place around 11 AM, resulted in the deaths of 18 individuals out of the 19 people onboard, including 2 crew members and 17 technicians
#WATCH | Plane crashes at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal’s Kathmandu
Details awaited pic.twitter.com/DNXHSvZxCz
— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2024
The flight was headed to Pokhara when it veered off the runway and caught fire upon impact. Emergency responders quickly extinguished the blaze, but the damage had already been done. The pilot was rushed to a nearby hospital and is receiving medical attention for a head injury. The army of Nepal is in charge of the rescue efforts.
Eyewitnesses told The Kathmandu Post that the plane overturned when its wing-tip struck the ground during takeoff. They reported that the aircraft quickly burst into flames and fell into a gorge on the runway’s eastern side.
According to media reports, the plane was operated by local carrier Saurya Airlines. Saurya Airlines runs domestic flights within Nepal using two Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets, each approximately 20 years old, as noted by Flight Radar 24.
In January of the previous year, a Yeti Airlines flight crashed near Pokhara, Nepal, just before landing, resulting in the deaths of 72 people, including five Indians.
On May 29, 2022, a Tara Air plane crash in Mustang district claimed the lives of all 22 passengers.
In 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines flight crash-landed near Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport, resulting in 51 fatalities and leaving 20 others seriously injured.
