Kathmandu: A Saurya Airlines aircraft crashed during takeoff at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal’s Kathmandu on Wednesday, The Kathmandu Post reported. Nineteen people, including aircrew, were aboard the Pokhara-bound plane which met with the accident at around 11 am, said Premnath Thakur, TIA spokesperson, the report added.
News portal Khabarhub reported that the Saurya Airlines airplane had caught fire and was “releasing a significant plume of smoke”.
The pilot of the aircraft has been taken to a hospital, a security official deployed at the airport told news agency PTI without giving further details.
A fire that broke out from the aircraft has been put off, he added. Police and firefighters are carrying out rescue operations at the accident site. Details about the condition of the passengers were not known.
The Saurya Airlines flight was en route to Pokhara, an important tourism hub in the Himalayan republic.