A Tricky Landing: Navigating Nepal's Airport Challenges

In 2018, a plane carrying 71 people crashed and caught fire in Nepal. The aircraft, which was heading from Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, to Kathmandu, swerved repeatedly as it prepared to land. The pilot asked, Are we cleared to land? and moments later, the controller responded, I say again, turn! The plane had circled Tribhuvan International Airport twice as it waited for clearance to land. The crash killed at least 50 people, with the exact number of dead and injured unclear in the chaos that followed.

Erratic swerving and flying dangerously low

The plane carrying 71 people from Bangladesh to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, swerved erratically and flew dangerously low before crashing and erupting in flames. The crowded city sits in a valley in the Himalayan foothills. Amanda Summers, an American working in Nepal, said the plane was "flying so low I thought it was going to run into the mountains".

The plane had circled Tribhuvan International Airport twice as it waited for clearance to land. Just before landing, the pilot asked, "Are we cleared to land?" Moments later, the controller came back on the air, his voice clearly anxious, and told the pilot, "I say again, turn!" Seconds after that, the controller ordered fire trucks onto the runway.

The exact number of dead and injured remained unclear amid the chaos of the crash and the rush of badly injured people to nearby hospitals. However, Brig. Gen. Gokul Bhandari, the Nepal army spokesman, said it was clear that at least 50 people had died. Officials at Kathmandu Medical College, the closest hospital to the airport, said they were treating 16 survivors.

Candles were lit in memory of the victims of the US-Bangla aircraft crash in Nepal, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Confused chatter between pilot and airport

"Are we cleared to land?" the pilot asked.

"I say again, turn!" the air traffic controller replied, his voice anxious. The pilot was confused. He had been circling Tribhuvan International Airport twice already, waiting for clearance to land.

"We're flying so low," the pilot said. "Are you sure we need to turn?"

"Turn!" the controller repeated. "Firetrucks are on their way."

The pilot pulled back on the controls, but it was too late. The plane swerved repeatedly and flew dangerously low before crashing and erupting in flames on the runway.

Within a minute, fire crews had put out the flames, but the damage was done. At least 50 people had died, and the exact number of dead and injured remained unclear. The Nepal army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Gokul Bhandari, confirmed that at least 50 people had perished in the crash.

The plane circled Tribhuvan International Airport twice

The plane, carrying 67 passengers and four crew members, was heading from Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, to Kathmandu. The airline's manager in Kathmandu, Mohammed Selim, told Dhaka-based Somoy TV that the plane had circled the airport twice before the crash. The exact number of dead and injured was unclear, but at least 50 people were killed, and 16 survivors were treated at Kathmandu Medical College, the closest hospital to the airport.

The plane crashed and caught fire

The plane, a US-Bangla aircraft, was carrying 67 passengers and four crew members. It had circled Tribhuvan International Airport twice as it waited for clearance to land. Just before landing, the pilot asked, "Are we cleared to land?" Moments later, the controller came back on the air, his voice clearly anxious, and told the pilot, "I say again, turn!" Seconds after that, the controller ordered fire trucks onto the runway.

Fire crews put out the flames quickly, perhaps within a minute, though for a time clouds of thick, dark smoke rose into the sky above the city. The exact number of dead and injured remained unclear amid the chaos of the crash and the rush of badly injured people to nearby hospitals. However, Brig. Gen. Gokul Bhandari, the Nepal army spokesman, said it was clear that at least 50 people had died. Officials at Kathmandu Medical College, the closest hospital to the airport, said they were treating 16 survivors.

The exact number of dead and injured was unclear

Witnesses described seeing the plane flying very low, so much so that they thought it would crash into the mountains. Amanda Summers, an American working in Nepal, said: "It was flying so low I thought it was going to run into the mountains. All of a sudden there was a blast and then another blast."

The Nepal army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Gokul Bhandari, said it was clear that at least 50 people had died. Officials at Kathmandu Medical College, the closest hospital to the airport, said they were treating 16 survivors. However, the exact number of dead and injured remained unclear amid the chaos of the crash and the rush of badly injured people to nearby hospitals.

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