Two Australians killed in Nepal plane crash
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The pilot was taken to a Kathmandu hospital. (AFP: Pradeep Shrestha)
Eighteen people, including two Australians, have been killed in a plane crash in the north east of Nepal.
The Yeti Airlines plane crashed as it was trying to land at Lukla's Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Nepal's Everest region.
Nepalese officials say the pilot was the only survivor.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed two Australians were on the plane.
The two Australians were from Victoria and their families have been contacted, but no names have been released.
Witnesses say the plane crash-landed near the airport's sloping runway and burst into flames.
Witnesses have blamed bad weather for the crash.
Dozens of flights land at the airstrip each day bringing tourists to the Mount Everest region.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has offered to help Nepalese authorities investigate the crash.
Fire extinguished
Security staff and volunteers took two hours to extinguish the fire in the wreckage of the plane, local journalist Suraj Kunwar said.
Hundreds of tourists and residents from Lukla gathered to watch the recovery operation, many in tears.
"Officials at the airport here have said that bad weather was the reason for the crash. There was heavy cloud when the accident occurred," Mr Kunwar said.
"We are devastated to hear of this accident," the president of the Union of Asian Alpine Associations, Ang Tsering Sherpa, told news agency AFP.
"In the season there are up to 50 flights per day into Lukla so the pilots are very used to landing there."
Flights from Kathmandu to Lukla take just over half an hour.
Yeti is a privately owned domestic airline founded in 1998 and which prides itself on running a service to many far-flung destinations across Nepal.
It has previously provided essential transport links to national and international relief teams working in Nepal as well as carrying many tourists.
-ABC/AFP
