Plane crash at Nepal’s Kathmandu airport kills 18; pilot only survivor

A passenger plane has crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, killing 18 people, aviation officials say. The pilot was the only survivor of Wednesday’s crash and was being treated in hospital, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement. Nineteen people were on the test flight conducted by the domestic carrier Saurya Airlines, including technical staff members and two crew members. The aviation authority said the incident occurred right after the 11:11am (05:26 GMT) takeoff of the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200. The statement said the plane then turned right and crashed into the eastern section of the airport. It was on its way to the resort town of Pokhara. The cause of the crash is being investigated. Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig reports. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #Nepal #NepalPlaneCrash #Kathmandu #KathmanduPlaneCrash #Pokhara #9NAME #CRJ200 #SauryaAirlines #SauryaAirlinesCrash #SauryaAirlinesPlane #TribhuvanInternationalAirport #BombardierCRJ200 #PlaneCrash #NepalCrash #Aviation #AviationAccidents #CivilAviationAuthorityOfNepal #MSN7772 #CaptainMRShakya #AlJazeeraEnglish