The pilot who survived a deadly plane crash in Nepal was saved after his cockpit was sheared off by a freight container seconds before the rest of the aircraft crashed in flames.

Captain Manish Ratna Shakya, the sole survivor of the disaster that killed 18 people at Kathmandu airport, is being treated in hospital but BBC Nepali has confirmed he is talking and able to tell family members he was “all good”.

Nepal’s civil aviation minister Badri Pandey described how the aircraft had suddenly turned right as it took off from the airport, before crashing into the east side of the runway.

CCTV footage shows the aircraft in flames careering across part of the airport before part of it appears to fall into a valley at the far edge of the site.

“It hit the container on the edge of the airport… then, it fell further below,” Mr Pandey said. "The cockpit, however, remained stuck inside the container. This is how the captain survived.”

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    21 month ago

    Wow, imagine the survivorship guilt that guy must be facing.

    The sheet amount of luck involved. Somehow the plane stuck the cargo container in a way the cockpit got detached and stuck in the container… Just wow