A horrifying new video has emerged of the Bombardier CRJ 200 jet that crashed at Nepal’s Kathmandu airport at 11.15am (local time). The video captures the last few seconds of the crash.
The clip begins shortly after takeoff, when the plane is already out of control and just a few hundred feet from the ground. A few seconds later the plane – a Saurya Airlines service to tourist hub Pokhara – which had been tilting to the right, veers sharply to the left and plummets to the ground, bursting into a fireball.
Officials said there were 19 people on board the plane – two crew members and 17 staff – of whom 18 were killed. A security official at the airport said the only survivor was the pilot, who was taken to a local hospital.
There is no news yet about the cause of the accident.
This morning another shocking video emerged showing the moment the plane hit the ground.
Video | Saurya Airlines plane crashes at Kathmandu airport.
The 18-second video taken from a CCTV camera at the airport shows the plane hitting the runway, sliding on the ground and catching fire.
,#Breaking | Video shows the exact moment the plane crashed at Kathmandu airport #Nepalplanecrash #Kathmandu #Nepal pic.twitter.com/saj1eUNN9m
— NDTV (@ndtv) July 24, 2024
Nepal’s aviation sector has boomed recently, but this expansion has been hampered by poor safety standards, inadequate training and maintenance issues. As a result, the European Union has banned Nepali carriers from entering its airspace. The Himalayan country’s challenging topography – which features high-altitude runways surrounded by mountainous terrain – challenges even the most experienced pilots.
The weather in these areas is also highly unpredictable, further complicating aviation safety.
Read | Kathmandu crash: Nepal is home to some of the world’s most difficult runways
In January last year, a Yeti Airlines plane crashed while landing in Pokhara, resulting in the death of all 72 people on board. The incident was Nepal’s deadliest plane crash since 1992, when a Pakistani jet crashed in Kathmandu, killing all 167 people on board. In the same year, a Thai Airways plane crashed, killing 113 people.
The Nepal accident has also drawn attention to India’s tabletop runways and the risks associated with them.
Table-top runways are located on hills or high terrain. This means that there is a steep slope on one or more sides, and if the plane overshoots the runway, there is little margin for error.
Read | Red-flag threat on table top runway after Nepal accident, 5 in India
Five airports in India have table-top runways – Shimla, Calicut, Mangalore, Lengpui (Mizoram) and Pakyong (Sikkim). Of these, Kerala and Mangalore have seen major accidents in the past.
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