1 killed, 2 injured after small plane crashes near Mt Everest

A senior pilot was killed and two members of the crew, including a woman, were injured today when a Nepalese cargo aircraft crashed while landing in foggy weather at an airport in the Mount Everest region.

"The Czech-manufactured LET-410 plane belonging to the domestic airline Goma Air crashed while landing at Tenzing Hillary Airport, also known as Lukla Airport, the gateway to the Mount Everest region," said a senior manager at Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

According to Prem Nath Thakur, spokesperson at the TIA, the incident might have occurred due to bad weather.

The aircraft 9N-AKY was carrying cargo when the incident took place, The Himalyan Times reported.

The deceased has been identified as Paras Kumar Rai, a permanent resident of Bhojpur district in eastern Nepal and the pilot of the flight. The injured has been identified as air hostess Pragya Manandhar and co-pilot Shreejan Manandhar.

Rai died on the spot, police said.

Rescue operation is being carried out by the local people, Nepali Army and police personnel, an eyewitness said.

Air hostess Maharjan and co-pilot Manadhar have been rescued, he said, adding that they were being rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Two helicopters were put on standby at Lukla to airlift the injured to Kathmandu for treatment, an official said.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)