The Agni Air Dornier carrying 18 passengers -- 16 Indian pilgrims and two Danish nationals -- crashed on Monday morning while trying to return to Pokhara after failing to land at Jomsom airport due to some technical problem. Six of the 21 people on board -- three Indian nationals, the two Danes and air-hostess Roshani Haiju -- miraculously survived the crash. [break]
According to Chief District Officer (CDO) of Mustang Laxmi Raj Sharma, 11 people died on the spot and four more breathed their last while undergoing treatment at Mustang Hospital. A Tara Air plane that reached Mustang soon after the crash brought the six injured to Pokhara for treatment. Five of the six injured are in a normal condition.
Among the 15 dead are pilot Prabhu Sharan Pathak and co-pilot S.D. Maharjan. The 13 Indians killed in the crash have been identified as K. Mamanya, S.K. Arora, M. Honda, M.K. Arora, R. Honda, A. Aroroa, T. Sachdev, G. Sachdev, Sanaim Sudhara and two members of the Kumar family. The bodies were brought to Kathmandu later on Monday.
After the Tara Air plane landed at Pokhara airport, the six injured were immediately airlifted to Manipal Teaching Hospital, also in Pokhara. One of the six injured -- Shrikantha from India -- is in a very critical condition. Air-hostess Haiju, who fractured a bone in the thigh, has been taken by her family to Kathmandu for further treatment. Shree Bardini, 9, and Shree Prada ,6, of Chennai in India are out of danger. Danish nationals Emilie Joergensen and Andreas Rasch are also in a normal condition.
The Agni Air Dornier (9N AIG - D228), which took off from Pokhara airport at 9:30 a.m., collided into a hill at 9:46 a.m. The hill is about 500 meters north of Jomsom airport. "The front of the plane hit the hill first," CDO Sharma said.
According to Sharma, the bodies were not badly mangled even though the plane itself disintegrated. "Some portions of the plane and some of the bodies plunged into a gorge," he said. "That was why we found it a bit difficult carrying out the salvage work. As a whole, the rescue and salvage work was very effective. This was perhaps the fastest such response of any plane crash. The rescue team was in action in 15 minutes after the crash."
A travel agency had chartered two planes of Agni Air on Monday for people on a pilgrimage to Muktinath temple. The plane that crashed was on its eighth flight to Mustang.
Cause of crash
It is believed the plane crashed after turning in a wrong direction while flying low upon encountering some problem with light indication. Pilot Pathak had sought permission from Air Traffic Control, Jomsom at 9:45 a.m. to return to Pokhara after experiencing the technical problem.
"The pilot informed us that he was to return to Pokhara following some technical problem with the light indication," air traffic controller at Jomsom Airport Shiva Sharma said. "Unfortunately, the plane crashed within a minute." Air Traffic Control had instructed the pilot to turn to Pokhara only after flying a few meters further ahead. But the plane made a sharp U-turn, and that is believed to have caused the crash.
"The crash could have been averted if the pilot had landed at Jomsom instead of trying to turn back to Pokhara," Sharma said. "We allowed the pilot to return to Pokhara assuming it would be relatively more difficult to rescue any crach victims at Jomsom airport."
PM Bhattarai, Indian FM express sorrow
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has expressed sorrow over the deaths of 15 passengers in Monday´s plane crash in Mustang.
Issuing a press statement, Bhattarai said the incident had hurt him personally and wished speedy recovery of the injured.
Similarly, Vice-President of Nepali Congress (NC) Ramchandra Poudel has expressed condolence to bereaved families.
“I also ask the government to prevent such incident by finding out truth behind the crash,” reads the press statement released by Poudel.
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna has conveyed condolences to the bereaved families.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all those who have lost their near and dear ones,” said Krishna in a press statement, adding, "the Almighty will grant them strength to bear their loss with fortitude.”
Bollywood child actress among the victims
Child actor Taruni Sachdev who has acted in many commercials including the famous Rasna advertisement and her mother Geetha Sachdev are also among the dead, deccanchronical.com reported.
The site further added that, Taruni who has acted in many films was also known her for her role in Hindi film Paa. In Malayalam, she has appeared in films Vellinakshatram and Sathyam.
She is well-known for acting along with Karisma Kapoor in the Rasna commercial saying ´I Love You Rasna´, the site adds.
Rescued air hostess R Haiju being taken to Manipal Hospital, Pokhara for treatment. (Photo: Santosh Pokharel)
Nepal Army personnel in rescue operation (Photo: Santosh Pokharel)
Nepal Army personnel in rescue operation (Photo: Santosh Pokharel)
A helicopter ferrying the injured seen outside Manipal Hospital. (Photo: Santosh Pokharel)
In this file photo taken a week ago, a Tara Air plane is seen landing on the Jomsom airport. (Photo: Tek Narayan Bhattarai)
Seen here (marked by red circle) is the exact location where the ill-fated plane crashed today. (Photo: Tek Narayan Bhattarai)
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