September 28 , 2012

Nineteen people died when a Dornier aircraft of Sita Air crashed at the banks of Manohara River in Madhyapur Thimi Municipality at 6:20 am on September 28 within minutes of taking off from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Kathmandu.

Seven Nepalis, including three crew members, seven Britons and five Chinese tourists were aboard the Lukla-bound aircraft.

According to officials of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the accident occurred after the ill-fated aircraft hit a bird while it was taking off. Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, general manager of TIA, told media persons that Captain Bijay Tandukar, who was commanding the aircraft, had informed control tower that the plane had hit a bird while taking off.

Co-pilot Takashi Thapa and air hostess Ruju Shakya were the other crew members in the ill-fated aircraft. Other deceased include Kumar Marshyangdi Magar, Lakpa Noru Sherpa, D Rai and MK Tamang of Nepal; Raymond Eagle, Christopher Francis Davey, Vincent Kelly, Darren Kelly, Timothy Oakes, Stephen Holding and Benjamin Ogden of Britain; and Mingwu Qian, Lin Wu, Zhihua Yang, Chen Yang and Hui Wu of China. (Photo Courtesy: nagariknews.com)