Personnel stand around the debris of a Saurya Airlines’ plane after it crashed at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.
| Photo Credit: PRAKASH MATHEMA

Data shows that Nepal belongs to a set of countries where air traffic is relatively low but fatalities are relatively high.

On Thursday, Nepalese authorities recovered the black box of the aircraft that crashed the previous day killing 18 persons. The Pokhra-bound Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft of Saurya Airlines, carrying 19 people, crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from the Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday. The pilot was the sole survivor of the accident. 

Also read: Data | With 720 plane crash deaths in last thirty years, Nepal ranks 12 of 207 nation

Only in January last year, 72 passengers onboard Yeti Airlines flight 691 died after it crashed in Nepal. That was the country’s third deadliest aviation disaster in the last three decades. With Wednesday’s incident 741 lives have been lost due to plane crashes in Nepal.

Chart 1 shows Nepal’s rank among plane crashes. Since 1996, 54 flights have crashed in Nepal, ranking 33 out of 207 nations ordered based on the number of plane crashes.

Chart appears incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode

Chart 2 shows Nepal’s rank among fatalities. Including Wednesday’s incident, 741 lives have been lost over Nepal in plane crashes, ranking 11 out of 207 nations.

Chart 3 shows that Nepal belongs to a set of countries where air traffic is relatively low (ranked 78th in departures) but fatalities are relatively high (11th in fatalities). Other countries in this lot include Nigeria, Pakistan, Angola and Sri Lanka.

Click to subscribe to our Data newsletter

Chart depicts fatalities in crashes against departures by air carriers registered in a country since 1996. The farther to the right a dot (representing a country), the more the departures. Fatalities in crashes are plotted in the vertical axis of the chart. The higher a dot on the chart, the more the fatalities. In 68 countries, the number of departures was higher than in Nepal, but the number of fatalities was lower.

Chart 4 shows that Nepal has/had a lot of private airlines. The graph shows the number of air crashes (red) across each airline and the number of fatalities (blue) cumulatively in those plane crashes.

Source: Aviation Safety Network, World Bank, ICAO

vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in

nihalani.j@thehindu.co.in

New Delhi:

A frightening new video has emerged of the Bombardier CRJ 200 jet that crashed at the Nepal’s Kathmandu airport at 11.15 am (local time). The video captures the final few seconds of the crash.

The clip begins shortly after take-off, with the plane already out-of-control and just a few hundred feet off the ground. Seconds later the plane – a Saurya Airlines service to the tourist hub of Pokhara – which was tilting to the right, jerks to its left and plunges to the ground, exploding in a ball of fire.

There were 19 people – two crew members and 17 staff – of whom 18 have died, authorities said. The lone survivor is the pilot, who has been rushed to a local hospital, a security official at the airport said.

There is no news yet on what caused the crash.

Earlier today an equally shocking video showed the moment the plane hit the ground.

VIDEO | Exact Moment Saurya Airlines Plane Crashed At Kathmandu Airport

The 18-second video, from a CCTV camera at the airport, showed the plane slamming into the runway, skidding along the ground, and bursting into flames.

#BREAKING | Video Shows Exact Moment Plane Crashed At Kathmandu Airport #NepalPlaneCrash#Kathmandu#Nepalpic.twitter.com/saj1eUNN9m

— NDTV (@ndtv) July 24, 2024

Nepal’s aviation sector has boomed recently but the expansion has been marred 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 sees high-altitude runways surrounded by mountainous terrain – challenge even the most experienced pilots.

The weather in these regions is also notoriously unpredictable, further complicating aviation safety.

READ | Kathmandu Crash: Nepal Home To Some Of World’s Trickiest Runways

In January last year a Yeti Airlines plane crashed while landing in Pokhara, resulting in the death of all 72 on board. That incident was Nepal’s deadliest plane crash since 1992, when a Pakistani jet crashed in Kathmandu, killing all 167 on board. The same year, a Thai Airways flight crashed killing 113.

The Nepal crash has also put the focus on tabletop runways in India and the associated dangers.

Table-top runways are located on top of hills or elevated terrain. This means there is a steep drop on one or more sides, and leaves a very slim margin of error if the plane overshoots the runway.

READ | Nepal Crash Red-Flags Table-Top Runways Risk, India Has 5

Five airports in India have table-top runways – Shimla, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Lengpui (in Mizoram) and Pakyong (in Sikkim). Of these, those in Kozhikode and Mangaluru have seen big crashes.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.