ID :
23267
Wed, 10/08/2008 - 20:00
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/23267
The shortlink copeid
Two Australians die in Nepal plane crash
Two Australians were among 18 people killed when a small plane crash-landed and burst into flames on a sloping runway near Mt Everest. A spokesman from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said the families of both Australians, who were from Victoria, had been contacted by consular staff.
"The Australian embassy is raising with Nepalese authorities the Australian government's willingness to assist in dealing with this tragic accident," the spokesman said.
Kathmandu airport general manager Mohan Adhikari said two Australians, 12 German tourists, and two Nepalese tourists were among those killed.
Two of the plane's three Nepalese crew also died. The sole survivor is thought to be
the pilot or copilot.
"There were 12 Germans and two Australians on the flight," Kathmandu airport general
manager Mohan Adhikari said.
He said the Yeti Airlines 19-seat Twin Otter had taken off from Kathmandu and
crash-landed and caught fire as it tried to land in foggy weather on the sloping
airstrip at Lukla Airport, about 60km from Mt Everest.
The wheels of the plane had snagged a security fence during landing, he said, adding
that visibility was about 400 metres - just enough for the aircraft to land.
Just 20 metres wide and 550 metres long, the runway perches on a hillside at an
angle of around 11 degrees.
Bad weather at the tiny airport - which is 2,757 metres above sea level - frequently
halts operations.
"We are devastated to hear of this accident," Ang Tsering Sherpa, the president of
the Union of Asian Alpine Associations, told AFP.
"In the season there are up to 50 flights per day into Lukla so the pilots are very
used to landing there."
Security staff and local helpers took two hours to put out the fire in the wreckage,
said Suraj Kunwar, a local journalist at the airport, 140km northeast of Kathmandu.
Hundreds of tourists and residents from Lukla gathered to watch the recovery
operation, many in tears.
"Officials at the airport here have said that bad weather was the reason for the
crash. There was heavy cloud when the accident occurred," Kunwar said.
When the weather is clear, dozens of flights land daily at Lukla's Tenzing-Hillary
airport, the gateway to Nepal's Everest region used by thousands of trekkers and
mountaineers.
It takes just half an hour to fly from Kathmandu to the airport, which is set amid
soaring mountains at an altitude of 2,800 metres.
Yeti is a privately-owned domestic airline founded in 1998 that prides itself on
running a service to many far-flung destinations across Nepal.
It has previously provided essential transport links to national and international
relief teams working in Nepal as well as carrying many tourists.
The tourism trade is a major foreign currency earner for impoverished Nepal and
since the end of a civil war in 2006 between the country's Maoists and the
government, numbers of foreign visitors have increased.
This year around 500,000 tourists are expected, the highest number since 1999, with
many coming to trek in the stunning Himalayan mountains that form Nepal's northern
border with Chinese-controlled Tibet.
The Everest Base Camp trek - where tourists fly into Lukla and walk for around two
weeks - is one of the most popular routes.
"The Australian embassy is raising with Nepalese authorities the Australian government's willingness to assist in dealing with this tragic accident," the spokesman said.
Kathmandu airport general manager Mohan Adhikari said two Australians, 12 German tourists, and two Nepalese tourists were among those killed.
Two of the plane's three Nepalese crew also died. The sole survivor is thought to be
the pilot or copilot.
"There were 12 Germans and two Australians on the flight," Kathmandu airport general
manager Mohan Adhikari said.
He said the Yeti Airlines 19-seat Twin Otter had taken off from Kathmandu and
crash-landed and caught fire as it tried to land in foggy weather on the sloping
airstrip at Lukla Airport, about 60km from Mt Everest.
The wheels of the plane had snagged a security fence during landing, he said, adding
that visibility was about 400 metres - just enough for the aircraft to land.
Just 20 metres wide and 550 metres long, the runway perches on a hillside at an
angle of around 11 degrees.
Bad weather at the tiny airport - which is 2,757 metres above sea level - frequently
halts operations.
"We are devastated to hear of this accident," Ang Tsering Sherpa, the president of
the Union of Asian Alpine Associations, told AFP.
"In the season there are up to 50 flights per day into Lukla so the pilots are very
used to landing there."
Security staff and local helpers took two hours to put out the fire in the wreckage,
said Suraj Kunwar, a local journalist at the airport, 140km northeast of Kathmandu.
Hundreds of tourists and residents from Lukla gathered to watch the recovery
operation, many in tears.
"Officials at the airport here have said that bad weather was the reason for the
crash. There was heavy cloud when the accident occurred," Kunwar said.
When the weather is clear, dozens of flights land daily at Lukla's Tenzing-Hillary
airport, the gateway to Nepal's Everest region used by thousands of trekkers and
mountaineers.
It takes just half an hour to fly from Kathmandu to the airport, which is set amid
soaring mountains at an altitude of 2,800 metres.
Yeti is a privately-owned domestic airline founded in 1998 that prides itself on
running a service to many far-flung destinations across Nepal.
It has previously provided essential transport links to national and international
relief teams working in Nepal as well as carrying many tourists.
The tourism trade is a major foreign currency earner for impoverished Nepal and
since the end of a civil war in 2006 between the country's Maoists and the
government, numbers of foreign visitors have increased.
This year around 500,000 tourists are expected, the highest number since 1999, with
many coming to trek in the stunning Himalayan mountains that form Nepal's northern
border with Chinese-controlled Tibet.
The Everest Base Camp trek - where tourists fly into Lukla and walk for around two
weeks - is one of the most popular routes.
