Kathmandu, August 13

Late pilot Dinesh Neupane, who lost his life while making an emergency landing to save passengers’ lives, has been honoured with the Narayan-Ishwori Neupane Samajsewa Ojaswi Award.

Neupane Bandhu Samaj honoured Neupane posthumously amid a programme in the capital on today for saving many lives even by sacrificing his own. Former lieutenant general of Nepal Army Balananda Sharma handed over the award jointly to Neupane's father Mandatta, mother Birlaxmi and wife Rajani.

The award carries a purse of Rs 11,111 and a certificate of appreciation. Neupane lost his life when he made an emergency landing of the aircraft (9N-AJB) belonging to Kasthamandap Airlines at Chilkhaya in Kalikot on March 12.

Although lives of all nine passengers were saved, co-pilot Santosh Rana along with Neupane was killed in the plane crash. The aircraft was heading for Jumla from Nepalgunj when the crash occurred.

Also on the occasion, Neupane’s son Avash and daughter Roshani were presented Rs 11,111 in cash each and a certificate of appreciation for scoring highest marks in the higher secondary school final examinations.