* IN FLORA LYIMO BLOG* DREADFULLY SAD BREAKING NEWS "PLANE CRASH IN NEPAL !! AISEE AJALI MBAYA MNO" HAKUNA ALOPONEA AJALI HII " MY THOUGHTS GO OUT TO THEIR LOVED ONE"

 

Two brothers and a 27-year-old Londoner are among the seven British trekkers who have been killed in a plane crash in Nepal as witnesses have described how they heard the 'wailing and screaming' of terrified passengers in the burning wreckage.

The victims were named today by local travel company Sherpa Adventures as Raymond Eagle, 58, Christopher Davey, 51, brothers Vincent Kelly, 50, and Darren Kelly, 45, Timothy Oakes, 57, Stephen Holding, 60, and Benjamin Ogden, 27, according to the Press Association.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said the families of the victims had all been informed.
The twin-engine aircraft, operated by domestic carrier Sita Air, was carrying trekkers to the Everest region and came down two or three minutes after take-off near the Manohara River on the southwest edge of the capital Kathmandu, killing 19 people in total.
The Britons had been due to begin a 16 day trek in the Himalayas, starting at Everest Base Camp, with Hampshire travel firm Explore Worldwide today.
As a number of badly burned bodies lay just metres from the aircraft's shattered fuselage, bystanders described hearing desperate screams and flames coming from one of the plane's wings moments before it hit the ground at around 6.30am (00.45 GMT).

No survivors: Onlookers watch on helplessly around the blazing plane which crashed on the edge of the Nepalese capital, killing 19 people including seven Britons"

Desperate fight for life: The pilot reported trouble shortly after leaving Kathmandu airport and appeared to have been trying to turn back when it came down"

Fireball: Firefighters battle to douse the burning wreckage of a plane after it came down in a field just minutes after takning off from Kathmandu Airport"

Housewife Tulasa Pokharel, 26, whose house is just metres from the crash site, said she saw the plane with black smoke crash into an open space on the banks of Manohara river, according to myrepublica.com.
She said: 'That time I could hear some people inside the plane wailing and screaming. When we went to inform the police and other locals about the incident and came back, there was just silence. We saw the plane burning and all of them dead"
She told reporters: 'We could hear people inside the aircraft screaming, but we couldn't throw water at the plane to put out the fire because we were scared that the engines were about to explode.
She said the pilot tried his best to make an emergency landing and that if he had managed it some of the passengers could have been saved.

Destroyed: The fire quickly spread to the rear, but the tail was still in one piece at the scene near the Manohara River on the south-west edge of Kathmandu"

Destroyed: The fire quickly spread to the rear, but the tail was still in one piece at the scene near the Manohara River on the south-west edge of Kathmandu"

Incinerated: Villagers were unable to approach the plane because of the flames and it took some time for firefighters to bring the fire under control"

Harimaya Tamang, who lives near the crash site, said: 'The plane appeared to be on fire already before it landed. We thought the pilot was trying to force land because it was on fire and the river area had open space to land.
'The plane hit the ground, bounced once but it did not break. The plane was already on fire, the local people rushed with buckets and tried to put out the flames but it was too hot and people could not get close enough.'
The Dornier Aircraft 9N-AHA was just a kilometre away from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu when it crashed. It was bound for Lukla, the main airport in the Everest region 35 minutes away. Airport authorities said that the pilot told them seconds before the crash how it had hit a bird - possibly an eagle.
The crew had apparently became aware of intense heat in the cabin shortly after take-off.
A spokesman for Sita Airways told the Daily Telegraph: 'There was very much heat and then the fire began. They were very close to the airport. After two or three minutes it crashed.'

On fire: Nepalese fireman and volunteers help extinguish flames from the wreckage of the Sita airplane"

Shocking: The mangled wreckage of the crashed plane which apparently hit a bird, thought to be an eagle, just two or three minutes after take-off"

Aftermath: Nepalese fireman and dozens of volunteers help extinguish flames from the wreckage"

Decimated: Rescuers inspect the wreckage of a plane which crashed on the edge of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu minutes after take-off, killing seven British trekkers"

Burnt-out: Onlookers and rescuers surround the remnants of the twin-engine plane, which police say caught fire mid-air, preventing the pilots from landing it safely"

 

Tragedy: The black box of the crashed Sita Air plane is carried away from the site and  Nepalese rescue team members move bodies from the scene"

Macabre clear-up: The victims are carried away from the scene by police rescuers who had tried to pull the bodies from the wreckage as firefighters battled the flames"

Major operation: Hundreds of rescuers and members of the public swarm around the site as investigators begin to piece together the events that led up to the tragedy"

Disaster: The plane, operated by domestic carrier Sita Air, came down just 500 yards from where it took off and appeared to be trying to return there when it came down"

 

The British ambassador to Nepal, John Tucknott, told Sky News: 'I can confirm that British nationals are involved although I cannot confirm the exact number at the present time.
'Regretfully all those on board perished. Our thoughts at the moment are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives.'
He added: 'We will be offering consular assistance to the families of those bereaved.

'We’ve had excellent cooperation from the Nepalese authorities and the Nepali Police and have been in touch with the local tour company who were arranging the tour for those British nationals we believe to have been on board.
Asked about the cause of the crash, Mr Tucknott said: 'This is not the time to speculate, obviously there will be an air crash investigation and clearly we will have to wait to see what they find caused the air crash.'
He spoke after visiting Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, where the bodies of those who were killed were taken.
Hundreds of rescuers, police and onlookers today surrounded the burnt-out shell of the aircraft as they looked for bodies and documents to help identify the victims.
The bodies were put in yellow body bags and were taken by vans to the hospital mortuary.

Fireball: The twisted wreckage of the aircraft is clearly seen in this photo including a gaping hole where fire tore through the plane"

Evidence: A Nepalese police officer carries a black box after it was recovered from the crash site and a forensic officer with a blood stained guide book"

Mystery: It is not yet known what caused the crash, but the weather were good so investigators will focus on a possible fault with the aircraft"

Belongings: A forensic officer with a blood stained guide book and right, a Nepalese fireman and rescue workers find a British passport and money"

Devastation: Nepalese police and members of the military salvage debris at the crash site after it crashed shortly after midnight GMT"

A police spokesman said: 'The pilots seem to have tried to land it safely on the banks of the river, but unfortunately the plane caught fire.'
Firefighters brought the fire in the wreckage under control and police rescuers were trying to pull out the bodies, Bastakoti said.
The plane was heading for Lukla, the gateway to Mount Everest. Thousands of Westerners head to the region around the world's highest peak every year for trekking trips.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has raised concerns about air safety in Nepal.
It was the sixth fatal air crash in the country in the last two years, with 76 lives lost in that period before Friday.

Evidence: A rescue team member holds up bundles of money recovered from the plane. Soldiers and police also sifted through the wreckage to try to identify the victims"

Sorting through: Rescue workers pick through clothes and belongings of the dead which are piled at the scene and right, clearing wreckage of the plane"

Charity worker Oli Walker, who has just returned from trekking in Nepal, told of the 'complete lack of safety instructions' on aircraft in the country.
The 21-year-old from Merthyr Tydfil said the planes were 'nothing more than flying minibuses' ferrying adventurers to the foot of Everest. He flew on the route on the same type of plane which crashed.
He said: 'The pilots are local and rely almost entirely on their knowledge of the mountains. We remarked that our pilot was skilfully steering around the clouds to avoid turbulence.

Crowds: People gather at the site of the plane crash near the banks of the Manohara River in Bhaktapur, which is just two kilometers away from Kathmandu airport"

'But the planes are quite old and it is just like catching a bus. You get on and one end and off at another - there are no frills and no safety advice. There may have been a card in the back of the seats telling you what to do in an emergency but no one told us to read it.'
English mountaineer Alan Hinkes, who has been climbing in the Himalayas for more than 20 years, told the BBC that he had taken the flight from Kathmandu to Lukla many times previously, and that problems usually occurred at the Lukla end.
He said: 'It is ironic that it has crashed in Kathmandu. You are usually worried about it happening at the other 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.'

A fault with the plane? The passengers were on board a Sita Air-operated twin-engine Dornier aircraft like this one when it crashed"

On vacation: The 15 trekkers and four crew members took off from Kathmandu International Airport (above), a popular start point for journeys into the Everest region"

Remote: The plane was bound for this airport at Lukla, Nepal which is the start of the Everest trekking trail"

Killed on trekking adventure: Thirteen people on board included seven Brits and five Chinese, while three other passengers and the three crew members were from Nepal"

Popular route: The plane was heading for Lukla, the gateway to the Mount Everest region which attracts tens of thousands of trekkers every year"

Shocking: A Nepalese police officer looks visibly distressed as he stands in front of the wreckage of the aircraft"

Mr Hinkes said it was unlikely the victims would have been planning to climb Everest, but were more likely to be trekkers or people attempting other mountains in the Everest region.
He said: 'There is quite good weather in October and November for climbing the mountains around Everest.
'It is a bit worrying and upsetting. There are a lot of people and friends I know who go out at this time of year leading treks.
'It is quite alarming. I have lost a few friends in plane crashes in Nepal over the last 20 years.
'It is not the safest place to fly, I must admit, but it is what you have to do to get into the mountains.'

No hope: Nepalese police said the pilots appeared to try to land the plane safely on the banks of a river, but the plane caught fire"

 

A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: 'We understand that British nationals may be involved, and we are urgently seeking to confirm what has happened.
'Our embassy in Kathmandu is talking to the airline and local authorities to find out whether Britons were involved.'
Autumn is considered the best time to trek the foothills of the Himalayan peaks.
The crash follows an avalanche on another Nepal peak Sunday that killed seven foreign climbers and a Nepali guide.

 

                                                 

                                                 

                          

                                                         

                                                

                                                   

                                                           

                      

                                                                       

       

                      

 

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