[Benjamin]

A plane heading for the Everest region has crashed on the outskirts of Nepal's capital, killing all 19 people on board including seven British tourists.

The plane, operated by Sita Air, came down minutes after take-off from Kathmandu. Officials said it crashed into a river bank and caught fire.

Sixteen passengers and three crew were on board the twin-propeller Dornier.

The UK Foreign Office has confirmed the British deaths and said relatives have been informed.

As well as the seven Britons, five Chinese nationals and seven Nepali nationals were on the plane, including the three Nepalese crew, police and aviation officials said.

Friday's plane crash has once again drawn international attention to Nepal's poor air safety record.

The crash is the second this year. Four months ago, 15 people died when an Agni Air plane carrying Indian pilgrims to a Hindu religious site in northern Nepal crashed at a high-altitude airport.

In September last year, another plane on a mountain sight-seeing flight crashed into a hillside near Kathmandu, killing all 19 people on board.

Since 1949 - the year the first aircraft landed in Nepal - there have been more than 70 different crashes involving planes and helicopters, in which more than 650 people have been killed.

While the latest crash appears in part due to exceptional circumstances, critics say that many passenger aircraft in Nepal are often poorly maintained, one of the main reasons for so many crashes.

But critics say that there is also another serious malaise in Nepali aviation - a regulatory body that has consistently failed to prevent airline operators from cutting corners on safety in what is a competitive market.

The British Embassy in Kathmandu said the UK ambassador had gone to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, where the bodies of those who died had been taken.

The cause of the crash is not yet known. However, the general manager of Tribhuvan International Airport, Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, said it appeared that the plane had struck a bird.

He said air traffic control contacted the pilot after noticing an unusual manoeuvre minutes after take-off and the pilot said his plane had hit a vulture.

Mr Suman said the plane had been attempting to get back to the airport when it crashed.

Nepalese officials later said that the flight recorders had been recovered from the wreckage.

They said initial reports suggested the crash happened as the pilots tried to change direction and land again after suffering "technical glitches".

Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai promised to take action to prevent similar accidents, but did not give details.

"I am saddened by the death of the locals and foreign nationals in the plane crash. I pay condolences to the families of the dead," he said.

The Dornier 228 aircraft had been heading for Lukla, the hub for trekking in the Everest region.

The trekking season has just begun in Nepal and thousands of climbers, including many Westerners, head to the country's famous Himalayan peaks.

A spokeswoman for local travel firm Sherpa Adventures said the British group had arrived in Nepal on Wednesday and was due to start trekking on Friday until 16 October.

Police spokesman Binod Singh told the AFP news agency that "the pilots seem to have tried to land it safely on the banks of the river but unfortunately the plane caught fire".

One of the first rescuers to reach the crash site, police officer Bhagwan Bhandari, described the scene as "terrifying".

"There was fire coming from the aircraft. Red flames were reaching up to 20m (65ft) above the ground," he said.

Climber Alan Hinkes says the landing strip at Lukla is where most crashes happen

"It wasn't possible to get inside to conduct rescue operations. We could hear blasts from the parts and engines of the aircraft."

Images showed burning wreckage at the crash site and dozens of rescue and security personnel.

British mountaineer Alan Hinkes told the BBC he had taken the flight from Kathmandu to Lukla many times and that problems usually occurred at the Lukla end.

"The landing strip in Lukla is a bit like an aircraft carrier with a mountain at the end of it, with a 1,000ft drop at the end of the runway. Normally crashes happen at that end," he said.

He added: "It is not the safest place to fly, I must admit, but it is what you have to do to get into the mountains."

Aviation accidents involving small aircraft are not uncommon in mountainous Nepal.

In May, 15 people were killed when a plane crashed trying to land at an airport in the north of the country.

And in September 2011, 19 people were killed when a Buddha Air plane crashed during a flight to view Mount Everest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19754351

[Marc]

Ugh I know this sounds pathetic but just been on a plane and I was kinda petrified about the likelihood of this happening. How horrible must that have been poor people!

[Marcus.]

Originally Posted by Marc

Ugh I know this sounds pathetic but just been on a plane and I was kinda petrified about the likelihood of this happening. How horrible must that have been poor people!

i would be the same

rip

[AnnieK]

I am terrified of flying. My brother is a pilot and tries to tell me how safe I reality it is but doesn't convince me. I wind myself up more watching aircrash investigation. Poor people. RIP.

[arista]

Yes Tragic
as the Plane has to be used to get there.

[CharlieO]

More people die from car crashes but no one posts about them. This post 9/11 scared of everything to do with flying just annoys me. Get over it. it happens sometimes. Yes its awful for them and their families but just one of those things.

[Redway]

Originally Posted by CharlieO

More people die from car crashes but no one posts about them. This post 9/11 scared of everything to do with flying just annoys me. Get over it. it happens sometimes. Yes its awful for them and their families but just one of those things.

This. You're far more likely to be killed driving to the airport than being killed on a plane. I'm sure the chances of dying in a car crash are about 1 in 5000 as opposed to 1 in 11 million for a plane crash.

RIP to all those who died anyway.

[Redway]

Originally Posted by anniek76

I am terrified of flying. My brother is a pilot and tries to tell me how safe I reality it is but doesn't convince me. I wind myself up more watching aircrash investigation. Poor people. RIP.

Are you terrified of getting in a car then given the fact that you're about 2200 times more likely to be involved in a crash? Or is that somehow different?

[AnnieK]

Originally Posted by Redway

Are you terrified of getting in a car then given the fact that you're about 2200 times more likely to be involved in a crash? Or is that somehow different?

It's different. In a car accident you have a chance of surviving but the likelihood of walking away from a plane crash is severely limited. I know the stats but it doesnt make me feel any better. Nothing to do with 9/11 either I have been around and flying since way before then. Fears etc don't have to be rational

[Munchkins]

Originally Posted by anniek76

It's different. In a car accident you have a chance of surviving but the likelihood of walking away from a plane crash is severely limited. I know the stats but it doesnt make me feel any better. Nothing to do with 9/11 either I have been around and flying since way before then. Fears etc don't have to be rational

This
Also if the planes flying over an ocean and crashes you definitely have no chance..

[MTVN]

You're still a lot more likely to actually die in a car than a plane though, I remember reading that the chances of dying in a car accident in your lifetime were 1 in 100 whereas it's something like 1 in 7000 for a plane accident

Although like Annie said fears aren't always rational and I can sorta understand why flying would seem quite scary

[Redway]

Originally Posted by anniek76

It's different. In a car accident you have a chance of surviving but the likelihood of walking away from a plane crash is severely limited. I know the stats but it doesnt make me feel any better. Nothing to do with 9/11 either I have been around and flying since way before then. Fears etc don't have to be rational

Of course you're entitled to believe whatever you want without being rational. Just as I'm entitled to pursue your point even further.

Bottom line is you are more likely - far more likely - to be killed in a car crash than a plane. Even if you're more likely to survive in a car crash you're still more likely to die in one ... surely balances itself out?

[GypsyGoth]

I feel much safer in a plane than I do in a car.

[AnnieK]

Originally Posted by Redway

Of course you're entitled to believe whatever you want without being rational. Just as I'm entitled to pursue your point even further.

Bottom line is you are more likely - far more likely - to be killed in a car crash than a plane. Even if you're more likely to survive in a car crash you're still more likely to die in one ... surely balances itself out?

I know what you are saying is true. I have had this same discussion many times and as I said I know the stats but it will not change my feelings on this. As I said its not rational but I feel far safer in my car than I do in a plane.

A fear is a fear is all I am saying and telling me that I am more likely to die in a car accident would only make me more wary of driving, not safer when I am flying.