Govt forms five-member commission to probe Saurya Air crash

KATHMANDU: The government has formed a five-member inquiry commission to probe the Saurya Airlines crash at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on Wednesday morning.

According to Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, an emergency cabinet meeting held on Wednesday afternoon decided to form the commission under Ratishchandra Lal Suman.

Suman is a former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). The other members of the commission are Nepal Airlines Captain Dipu Jwarchan, Professor Kuldeep Bhattarai, and Sanjaya Adhikari, while Air Traffic Control Officer Mukesh Dangol serves as the member-secretary.

The commission has been given 45 days to prepare its report.

Eighteen people died when a CRJ 200 aircraft of Saurya Airlines crashed moments after taking off from Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday morning. The aircraft, which was scheduled to undergo a C-check at Pokhara airport, was carrying technical staff of the airline and their families.

Only Captain Manish Ratna Shakya survived the crash.