A passenger plane crashed on take-off in Kathmandu on July 24, with the pilot rescued from the wreckage but all 18 others aboard killed, police in the Nepali capital told AFP. Nepal has a woeful track record on aviation safety and the Himalayan republic has seen a spate of deadly light plane and helicopter crashes over the decades. The country's last major incident involving a commercial flight was in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines service crashed while landing at Pokhara, killing all 72 aboard.