Family members of Pilot Dinesh Neupane at Koriyanpur in Nepalgunj-16 have been grief-stricken following his death when an Air Kasthamandap plane crash-landed in Kalikot on Friday. 

Dinesh’s mother Laxmi and wife Ranjani are said to be loosing their consciousness time and again in shock.

According to his friend Chet Bahadur Khadka, his friend sacrificed his life to protect nine other survivors. “There are very few people in this world who have such spirits,” he said. Chandra Shrestha, a friend of Dinesh’s father, said his family 

members are not in a condition to speak with anyone. “The incident has shocked all of us,” he said. 

Two pilots were killed after a small passenger plane belonging to Air Kasthmandap crash landed in Chilkhaya in Kalikot. Police informed that Captain Neupane died on the spot, whereas Co-pilot Santosh Rana died an hour later. 

All nine passengers sustained injuries but survived the crash. Out of the nine injured, two of them have been ferried to Lucknow in India for treatment whereas others were taken to Kathmandu. The 9N-AJB Air Kasthmandap was en route from Nepalgunj to Jumla. The chartered flight had taken off from Nepalgunj at 12:16pm. It has been learnt that the 10-seater single-engine aircraft had developed some technical problem, leaving pilots with no option but to land the plane on a field.

n Relatives react after seeing Co-Pilot Santosh Rana’s body at Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, on Saturday. Captain Dinesh Neupane and Rana were killed when an Air Kasthamandap aircraft crash-landed in Kalikot on Friday. POST PHOTO