'I say again, turn!': Air traffic controller's frantic final plea to pilot before he 'landed on the wrong end of the runway' killing 49 passengers in Kathmandu
- A plane crashed at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal
- The flight had arrived from Dhaka, Bangladesh, when it careened off the runway
- A recording heard the air traffic controller telling the pilot: 'I say again, turn!'
- The airline, US-Bangla, has blamed air traffic control for the incident
- Plane was carrying 67 passengers and four crew members when it crashed
- At least 49 people have died and 22 have so far been taken to hospital
At least 49 people have been killed in a plane crash at an airport in Kathmandu, Nepal on Monday.
The flight from Dhaka, Bangladesh, landed on the Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal, but ended up careening off the runway and crashing, bursting into flames.
An air traffic controller was recorded saying to the pilot, 'I say again, turn!', just before the aircraft crashed, reports the BBC.
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Crash: The passenger flight from Dhaka, Bangladesh, landed in Kathmandu, Nepal, but ended up careening off the runway and crashing in a nearby field
Tragedy: At least 49 people died when the plane crashed at the main airport Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal
Airline US-Bangla has placed the blame on air traffic control, while Tribhuvan International Airport says the aircraft came in to land from the wrong direction.
US-Bangla Airlines chief executive Imran Asif said: 'There were wrong directions from the tower. Our pilot was not at fault.'
'Our pilot is an instructor of this Bombardier aircraft. His flight hours are over 5,000. There was a fumble from the control tower.'
But airport general manager Raj Kumar Chettri said the pilot disregarded their messages and came in from the wrong direction.
'The plane should have come from the right direction,' Chettri said, adding that it hit the airport fence, touched the ground and then caught fire.
Nepalese rescuers stand on the debris after a passenger plane from Bangladesh crashed at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal
Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) Sanjiv Gautam said:
'The aircraft was permitted to land from the Southern side of the runway over Koteshwor but it landed from the Northern side.
'We are yet to ascertain the reason behind the unusual landing,' reports the Kathmandu Post.
The airplane had carried 67 passengers and four crew members from Bangladesh to Nepal.
Airline spokesman Kamrul Islam said 33 of the passengers were Nepali, 32 were Bangladeshi, one was Chinese and one from the Maldives.
All of a sudden the plane shook violently and there was a loud bang,' one of the survivors, Basanta Bohora, told the Kathmandu Post daily.
'I was seated near a window and was able to break out of the window.'
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but a statement from airport authorities said the plane was 'out of control' as it came in to land.
Basanta Bohara, 27, a survivor from the US-Bangla plane crash lies on a hospital bed while undergoing treatment in Kathmandu
Rescue teams carry a victim from the wreckage of a plane that crashed at the main airport Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu
Help: More than 20 people were rescued from the wreckage and is receiving treatment
Eye witnesses said the plane, a Canadian-made Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprop, crashed as it made a second attempt to land.
'There might be technical problems on the aircraft. But it has to be probed before making a final statement,' Mahbubur Rahman of Bangladesh's civil aviation ministry said.
Earlier in the day, a police official said at least 38 people had died, 23 had been injured and ten were unaccounted for.
Several passengers rescued are reported to have later died in hospital.
Scene: Emergency services were quick to put out the flames after the plane crashed
Live footage posted on Facebook showed the towering columns of smoke rising behind the runway, where another plane stood waiting on the tarmac.
Emergency vehicles appeared to be heading into the smoke as people watched from a distance or filmed on their mobile phones.
Amanda Summers, an American who works in Nepal, watched the crash happen from the terrace of her home office.
'It was flying so low I thought it was going to run into the mountains,' she said. She said it was unclear if it had reached the runway when it landed.
'All of a sudden there was a blast and then another blast,' she said.
Casualties: A Nepalese government spokesperson confirmed that several bodies have been recovered from the wreckage
Smoke rises following the crash of a Bangladeshi aircraft at Kathmandu airport
The plane was carryijng 67 passengers and four crew members when it crashed
Nepal has suffered a number of air disasters in recent years, dealing a blow to its tourist industry.
Its poor air safety record has been blamed largely on inadequate maintenance, inexperienced pilots and substandard management.
In early 2016, a Twin Otter turboprop aircraft slammed into a mountainside in Nepal killing all 23 people on board.
Two days later, two pilots were killed when a small passenger plane crash-landed in the country's hilly midwest.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5489923/Airplane-careers-runway-crashes-Kathmandu-airport.html#ixzz59acsKIIg
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On Board were 33 Nepali passengers, 32 from Bangladesh, one from China and one from the Maldives
