Library image of the Agni Air plane.
Those killed include Capt. Lucky Shah, co-pilot Sophia Singh, air hostess Sahara Sherpa, and passengers R Rijal, P Humagain, P Bhote, K Rai and P Sherpa. Six foreigners - four Americans, one Japanese and a British national - were also killed in the crash.
The airplane crashed near a small settlement in Shikhapur VDC of the district. Reports say the plane, and body parts of the deceased, are scattered all around the crash site.
The crash site is at least two hours walk from the nearest police post. Rescue personnel from Nepal Army and Nepal Police have left for the crash site.
The Dornier 9N-AHE belonging to Agni Air had taken off from Kathmandu airport at 7.05 am. It lost contact with the RADAR at around 7.30 am.
Sources say, the plane had encountered a technical failure in addition to the difficulty due to bad weather. According to reports, the pilot had reported generator failure en route to Lukla and decided to return, but the backup generator also later failed. Generator failure would mean the plane would have lost its cockpit avionics and would be effectively flying blind in rugged terrain and bad weather.
The crash site is located about 15 miles south of Kathmandu and at an altitude of 9,000 ft.
Meanwhile a Nepal Army team has reached the incident site and has started collecting the dead bodies.
Saroj Dhakal, chief of Central Division Headquarters, said the 35-men army team found body parts scattered elsewhere and the plane broken into pieces. Meanwhile, following the slight improvement in weather, a Nepal Army helicopter has left the capital Kathmandu for Makwanpur to carry out rescue operation of the Agni Air.
