KATHMANDU: The pilot and sole survivor of a plane crash in Nepal's capital was recovering in hospital after a miraculous escape from an accident that killed 18 others, aviation officials said Thursday.
Nepal has a woeful track record on aviation safety and the Himalayan republic has seen a spate of deadly light plane and helicopter crashes over the decades.
A Bombardier CRJ 200 plane operated by Saurya Airlines crashed at Kathmandu airport on Wednesday just as it was beginning its 20-minute flight to the tourism hub Pokhara for a maintenance review.
Gyanendra Bhul of the Civil Aviation Authority told AFP that the pilot remained in hospital but his condition was improving.
"The pilot survived because on impact he fell into a cargo container where there were no flames," he added.
Bhul said the flight had climbed up to 400 feet (122 metres) from the ground but then suddenly veered to the right before crashing near the runway.
Nepal's government has appointed a five-member investigation team to probe the causes of the crash.
"We will now hand over the black box and the remains of the plane to the committee for investigation," Bhul said.
An army statement on Wednesday night said the pilot was rescued bleeding but conscious by soldiers from the wreckage.
Saurya Airlines spokesman Mukesh Khanal told AFP that the flight was carrying a technical team to Pokhara to conduct an extensive maintenance review of the plane at the airport there.
Khanal said the flight was carrying two crew and 17 others, among them the young child of an airline employee.
Nepal's air industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as foreign trekkers and climbers.
But it has been plagued by poor safety due to insufficient training and maintenance, issues compounded by mountainous Nepal's treacherous geography.
The European Union has banned all Nepali carriers from its airspace over safety concerns.
Nepal has some of the world's trickiest runways on which to land, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots.
The weather can also change quickly in the mountains, creating perilous flying conditions.
Nepal's last major incident involving a commercial flight was in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines service crashed while landing at Pokhara, killing all 72 people aboard.
That was Nepal's deadliest since 1992 when all 167 people aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu airport.
A Thai Airways aircraft crashed near the same airport earlier that year, killing 113 people. --AFP