KATHMANDU, July 24 – Eighteen people lost their lives when a regional passenger plane belonging to Nepal’s Saurya Airlines crashed and caught fire while taking off from Kathmandu on Wednesday, officials reported. A video of the tragic incident has gone viral.
The plane, carrying two crew members and 17 technicians, was en route to Nepal’s new Pokhara airport for regular maintenance. The airport, opened in January, is equipped with aircraft maintenance hangars.
“Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft veered off to the right and crashed on the east side of the runway,” stated the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
Of the passengers, 18 were Nepali citizens, and one engineer was from Yemen, according to Saurya Airlines. “Only the captain was rescued alive and is receiving treatment at a hospital,” said Tej Bahadur Poudyal, spokesman for Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport.
Television footage showed firefighters battling the blaze and thick black smoke rising into the sky. Other visuals depicted the plane tilting to its right before crashing, rescue workers sifting through the charred remains, and bodies being carried to ambulances.
“The plane was scheduled for maintenance starting Thursday. It is unclear why it crashed,” said Mukesh Khanal, marketing head of Saurya Airlines. Kathmandu airport was temporarily closed following the crash but reopened within hours.
The aircraft was identified as a 50-seater CRJ-200 with the registration 9N-AME. Saurya Airlines operates two CRJ-200 regional jets, a program originally owned by Canada’s Bombardier and acquired by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2020.
Bombardier deferred questions about the incident to MHI RJ Aviation Group, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Established in 2014, Saurya Airlines introduced the “jet experience” on Nepal’s domestic routes, flying to five destinations. Nepal has faced criticism for its poor air safety record, with many airlines operating in remote, mountainous areas. The country is home to eight of the world’s 14 tallest peaks, making aviation particularly challenging.
Since 2000, nearly 350 people have died in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal. The deadliest incident was in 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus crashed into a hillside near Kathmandu, killing 167 people. More recently, a Yeti Airlines crash in January 2023 killed at least 72 people, attributed to pilot error.
Flightradar24 noted that it did not track the crashed Saurya flight because the aircraft lacked a modern ADS-B transponder.
