NewBiz Report
KATHMANDU, JULY 24: The death of 18 individuals in a plane crash at Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday has once again brought into surface the concerns regarding Nepal’s poor air safety records.

A Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ 200 plane with a registration number 9N-AME veered off to the right and crashed on the east side of the runway, shortly after taking off from runway 02 at 11:11 am, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) in a press statement. 

The plane had caught fire after the accident.

Despite immediate rescue efforts, 18 of the 19 people onboard were found dead. Captain Manish Ratna Shakya, who had sustained injuries, was rescued and taken to the hospital, according to CAAN.

Among the dead, 17 were Nepalis and one Yemini national named Aref Reda.

The Nepali citizens who lost their lives were Amit Man Maharjan, Sagar Acharya, Dilip Verma, Manu Raj Sharma, Ashwin Niraula, Sudip Lal Joshi, Sarbesh Marasain, Shyam Bindukar, Nava Raj Ale, Raja Ram Acharya, Priza khatiwada, Adhiraj Sharma, Uddhab Puri, Yagya Prasad Poudyal, Santosh Mahato, Punya Ratna Shahi and Co-pilot Sushant Katuwal. 

Most of them were the employees at Saurya Airlines and were heading towards Pokhara to carry out maintenance works, according to Police.

Wednesday's air accident occurred around a year after five members of a family from Mexico and a Nepali pilot were killed in a helicopter crash in Solukhumbu district on July 11 last year.

Earlier that, Nepal reported its deadliest aviation disaster in three decades on January 15, 2023 when a double engine ATR 72 plane operated by Yeti Airlines crashed near newly inaugurated international airport in Pokhara, killing all 72 onboard.

Similarly, a twin otter plane operated by Tara Air crashed on May 29, 2022 while it was  heading to Jomsom from Pokhara, claiming the lives of 22 onboard. The plane had  crashed about 15 minutes after take off. 

The then Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari was killed along with six others in a helicopter crash in Taplejung district on February 27, 2019.

Apart from Nepal’s difficult geography, many consider CAAN’s dual role–as a service provider and a regulator–as one of the major reasons hampering aviation safety in the country.  

Nepal has recorded more than 100 air crashes in its aviation history with more than 900 people having lost their lives in such incidents since 1955, according to CAAN.

Poor safety records have tarnished Nepal’s reputation in the international aviation sector.

The European Union which first banned Nepali airlines from operating flights  into the sky of the  EU member countries in 2013,  has continued the prohibition citing poor aviation safety record of Nepal.

Here is the timeline of Nepal's aviation disasters in the last decade.