SATV, Kathmandu, July 24: A Saurya Airlines plane has crashed at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu. The aircraft met with an accident while attempting to make a landing in TIA at around 11 AM on Wednesday.

The crash occurred while the flight was taking off for Pokhara from Kathmandu. The plane was only carrying technical staff of the airline.

There were no passengers on board but the plane was carrying 19 technical staff and crew member, said Gyanendra Bhul, information officer at the TIA.

Huge fire broke out at the airport, with smoke rising from the incident site. Security personnel and airport firefighters are currently working to extinguish the fire.

According to the sources, the plane was heading to Pokhara for the screening of the aircraft which caused to carry just the engineers in the aircraft. The plane was disbalanced during its take off and one of its wings touched the ground while attempting to land it. The aircraft experienced a blast thenafter according to the sources. 

The pilot and other 13 crew members have been rescued. Pilot has been rushed to the hospital due to his critical condition. 

Further details of the accident are still awaited.

Other glimpses of the incident: