Small plane crash in Nepal kills 15 people, including 13 Indians
In this picture taken on October 9, 2008, bystanders look on as the wreckage of a Yeti Airlines aircraft burns at the airport in Lukla. Mistakes by the crew of a plane that crashed in Nepal’s Everest region caused the accident which killed 18 people, officials said January 1, 2009, as a report into the accident was released. Fifteen people including 13 Indian tourists were killed when an aircraft with 21 people on board crashed at Jomsom airport in north-central Nepal on Monday morning.
Fifteen people including 13 Indian tourists were killed when an aircraft with 21 people on board crashed at Jomsom airport in north-central Nepal on Monday morning, the Hindustan Times reports.
According to initial reports, the Dornier 228 aircraft belonging to Agni Air, a private carrier, on its way from the tourist town of Pokhara was carrying 16 Indian and two Danish passengers, as well as pilot PS Pathak, co-pilot HD Maharjan and a female flight attendant.
Indian Embassy officials in Kathmandu confirmed that 13 of those killed were Indians, the paper said. The pilot and co-pilot were also reported to have died in the accident.
The six survivors, who included two children, both Danish nationals and the flight attendant were airlifted to Pokhara where they have admitted to the Manipal College of Medical Sciences, the paper said.
This is the second major air disaster involving India tourists in Nepal in less than eight months, the Hindustan Times said.
On September 25 last year, 19 persons including 10 Indians were killed when the Buddha Air Beechcraft 1900D aircraft they were traveling crashed on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
Notably, neither of these crashes involved the notorious Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, the jumping off point for Everest Base Camp, which is widely regarded as the world's most dangerous airport.