Kathmandu: A Surya Air flight skidded off the runway and fell into a ditch before taking off from Kathmandu for Pokhara, killing 18 people, while the pilot jumped off the plane after realising the accident was imminent. The plane had two crew members and 17 passengers on board.
Giving information about this, airport security chief Arjun Chand Thakuri said that the Civil Aviation Authority's 'Surya-Air' aircraft number 9N-AME / CRJ 200 overshot the runway before taking off for Pokhara from Tribhuvan International Airport at 11.11 am today. It slipped off the runway, fell into a ditch in the adjacent field and burst into flames. The plane had Bombardier CRJ-200 type jet engines on both sides. According to the report of 'Flight-Radar-24', but both of them were 20 years old.
News agencies said that bad weather could be a reason for this accident, adding that Nepal has become notorious for plane crashes. In 1992, an Air-Bus plane of Pakistan International Airlines crashed into the mountains while on its way to Kathmandu, killing 167 people. In January 2023, a plane of 'Yeti-Air-Lines' crashed in the middle of Pokhara, killing all 72 passengers on board, including five Indian passengers. Earlier on May 29, 2022, 22 tourists, including 4 Indians natives of Thana, died.
The weather in Nepal changes suddenly. This is also an important reason for plane accidents. On the other hand, the Himalayas and sub-Himalayan mountain ranges also become dangerous for the flight of planes (ascent and landing). In bad weather, the pilot's range of vision becomes very low due to fog. Due to which there is a fear of the plane colliding with the mountains. Not only this, the runways of Nepal's airports are also in bad condition. They have to be repaired again and again, which does not seem to be done properly in Nepal.