Nepal to probe Air Kasthamandap plane accident

Kathmandu, Feb 27 (IANS) A day after an Air Kasthamandap plane crash-landed in Nepal, the country's government has formed a four-member commission to probe the incident in Kalikot district.

The commission was formed under the coordination of Yagya Prasad Gautam, former secretary Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Xinhua quoted Suresh Acharya, joint secretary at the ministry, as saying.

Other members of the commission include Lieutenant Colonel Rabindra Basnet of Nepal Army, Goma Air Engineer R.K Singh and an under-secretary of the ministry.

Friday's incident comes just two days after the crash of Tara Airlines in Myagdi district, killing all 23 people on board including three crew members.

There were altogether 11 people on board in Air Kasthamandap' single engine plane including two crew members. While crew members -- Captain Dinesh Neupane and co-pilot Santosh Rana lost their lives during the crash landing, all the passengers were saved.

Nepalese authorities said that most of the passengers have sustained minor injuries while two were critically injured.

Meanwhile, the government officials said that the concerned authority would examine the condition of all the single engine planes operating in the country.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ananda Prasad Pokharel on Friday said that he has already instructed the domestic airlines not to fly such planes before their technical tests.

Joint Secretary Acharya said that Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, the regulatory body of aviation sector, has allowed single engine plane only to conduct chartered flights. "They are not licensed to conduct regular flights," he said.