(LibertyInsider.org) – Nepal hosts some of the world’s most beautiful natural wonders and highest mountains. Yet, several experts have assessed air travel to and within the country as the riskiest worldwide. Sadly, a plane crash at the country’s Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday, July 24, took 18 more lives while sparing only the pilot.
Observers reported seeing a fire as a Saurya Airlines aircraft taxied the runway for takeoff. Shortly after the plane took off, observers estimated 20 seconds, the craft drifted to the right and began to plummet. The Bombardier CRJ-200 moved toward the ground at an abrupt angle, causing the left wing to point nearly vertically toward the sky as the plane, fully engulfed in flames, impacted the ground just east of the runway.
Plane crash in Nepal kills 18 people, with the pilot the sole survivor https://t.co/OUbIoe25nD
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) July 24, 2024
First responders quickly arrived on the scene and began battling flames to allow them access to recover survivors. The passengers and crew perished. Rescuers extracted the pilot, still conscious, from the charred wreckage, but he suffered severe injuries. They transported him to a hospital.
The airline was sending the plane, 16 technicians, two family members of one of the engineers, and the pilot to Pokhara International Airport, where engineers on the flight planned to perform a C-check, comprehensive testing of the aircraft performed every 18 to 24 months to detect and correct potential issues. However, air safety analysts questioned why Nepal’s aviation authority would allow the airline to fly so many people on a plane prior to testing.
While unpredictable weather and rugged terrain features account for some accidents, poor safety standards exacerbated by a civil aviation body that poses serious conflicts of interest by also providing air service cause most accidents. The lax standards and ethical conflict have caused the European Union to ban Nepal’s airlines, including its national carrier, Nepal Airlines, for over a decade.
The Civil Aviation Authority, understaffed and underfunded, is investigating the accident. Reports indicate that Saurya Airlines was also facing financial challenges even before the crash. As yet, victims’ families and the public have no information about what might have caused the disaster.
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