Nepal Tragedy as Plane Crash Kills 18
Tragic Plane Crash in Nepal Claims 18 Lives: A Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ 200 plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Kathmandu, killing 18 people and leaving the pilot as the sole survivor. The crash has brought national mourning and raises critical questions about aviation safety in the region.
A brutal crash of their plane barely a minute after taking off from the capital of Nepal on Wednesday killed all 18 people on board, with one pilot scrambling out of the wreckage using his legs. The ill-fated Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ 200 aircraft was heading to Pokhara to undergo maintenance work. This move has thrown the entire nation into mourning and raised serious questions over aviation safety in the region.
Nepal Plane Crash
The plane departed Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu airport at 11:11 a.m. local time but veered to the right within seconds before crashing at the eastern end of the airport. Witnesses said what they witnessed was quite chaotic and of destruction with thick smoke billowing and raging fires consuming the wreckage of the crash. A local store owner, Ram Kumar Khatri Chetri, recounted the horrific moments: “There was chaos and confusion.”. It was just horrible and there was no way that anyone could just go near the plane and help out especially when there was so much fire and even explosions.”
Casualties and Survivor
The passengers and crew were 18 in all, all being Nepalese nationals except for one passenger from Yemen. T.U. Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu has taken the bodies, awaiting a post-mortem report. Having recently enrolled is taking at least a day or two for the bodies to be released, grieving relatives have registered at the hospital.
The pilot, the sole survivor, has suffered eye injuries and is reportedly out of danger. He is being treated at Kathmandu Medical College Hospital. The doctor attending to him, who requested anonymity, confirmed the condition of the pilot.
Victims and Their Stories
Among the fatalities was co-pilot Sasant Katuwal, a promising trainee with a lot of potential under his belt. He was a graduate of training school from France and had flying experience of three years for a living, after which he was issued a visa for further training in Germany. His uncle, Dhyan Bahadur Khadka, sums up his grievance: “His parents are grieving the loss of their only child. He was unmarried. He was not just tall and handsome, but he was well-behaved.
Probe and Airport Conditions
Tribhuvan International Airport is infamously a challenging landscape and located toward mountainous areas. It closed for hours while rescuers and investigators worked on the site. This crash added to the chaotic history of crashes taking place at this airport. Back in 2019, another crash of Bangladeshi airliner killed 51 people due to pilot disorientation and failure to align with the runway. In 2015, the runway of another airliner of the Turkish Airlines was shut off in thick fog, but fortunately, no one suffered serious injuries.
A Nation in Mourning
The number of crashes that has occurred in Nepal in the past years has an entire nation reeling and wondering about the safety measures and state of aviation infrastructures in the country. Questions will be asked of Saurya Airlines, the operator of the Bombardier CRJ 200 on internal routes. Extensive examinations will be done as soon as possible.
The mourning nation has left the families of the victims to try to deal with the unimaginable losses of their loved ones. The tragedy once again attests to the low safety of aviation in the region, underlining the utmost necessity for harsher safety protocols to avert other such tragic incidents in the future.
