18 people killed in plane crash in Nepal

A small plane crashed while taking off from an airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Wednesday, killing 18 people on board, officials said. The pilot of the Saurya Airlines flight was the only survivor and was seriously injured, the authorities said. The plane took off at 11:11 a.m. from Tribhuvan International Airport and was headed toward Pokhara, Nepal’s second biggest city and a Himalayan tourist destination, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement. The plane then veered to the right before crashing on the east side of the runway and catching fire, the statement said. Officials said that the cause was not immediately clear and that there would be an investigation. Among the dead were the plane’s co-pilot and one child, the aviation authority said. One passenger was from Yemen, while the others were Nepalese. Photos of the crash site from local media showed the charred wreckage of the plane scattered in pieces. Nepal’s aviation sector has a poor safety record, with a string of crashes in recent years killing dozens. Tough, mountainous topography and unpredictable weather conditions are responsible in part for the country’s frequent plane crashes, according to experts.<br/>