The pilot is the only survivor after a domestic plane carrying 19 people skidded off the runway and crashed while attempting to take off in Nepal.
The plane was carrying two crew members and 17 technicians to the city of Pokhara for maintenance checks, airport security chief Arjun Chand Thakuri said.
Mr Thakuri also told local media the plane “caught fire” after it left the runway at Tribhuvan International Airport in the capital Kathmandu.
TV channels have shown the plane flying a little above the runway and then tilting before it crashed.
They also showed firefighters trying to put out the fire and thick black smoke rising into the sky.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
The fire has now been brought under control as images show rescue workers rummaging through the charred wreckage of the plane.
Police official Basanta Rajauri said authorities have pulled out the bodies of all 18 people who died.
“Only the captain was rescued alive and is receiving treatment at a hospital,” said Tej Bahadur Poudyal, the spokesman for Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport.
Nepal army personnel stand by a plane crash site at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. Pic: AP
Rescuers search a plane crash site at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. Pic: AP
The pilot was taken to Kathmandu Medical College Hospital with eye injuries but his condition is not life-threatening, said a doctor at the hospital who was not authorised to speak to media.
It is not yet clear what caused the crash.
It is monsoon rainy season in Kathmandu but it was not raining at the time of the crash. However, visibility was low across the capital.
The plane belonged to local Saurya Airlines, media said.
Emergency services work at the accident site. Pic: NepaliArmyHQ/Reuters
Smoke rises from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. Pic: AP
Saurya operates domestic flights in Nepal with two Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets, both around 20 years old, according to Flight Radar 24.
Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, has been temporarily closed following the crash.
Nepal has been criticised for a poor air safety record, and nearly 350 people have died in plane or helicopter crashes in the Himalayan country since 2000.
The deadliest incident occurred in 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus crashed into a hillside while approaching Kathmandu, killing 167 people.
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