Lukla, May 27

As soon as we heard a loud noise, everyone rushed towards the site of the crash just below the threshold of the airstrip. When I reached the site, only a few people were near the plane. We looked for casualties, but found it was a cargo plane.

As the flight attendant was conscious and had not sustained life-threatening injury, she was pulled out from her seat and rushed to the hospital. Both the pilot and the co-pilot were trapped inside the cockpit. We tried to feel their pulse and also whether or not they were breathing. The pilot on the right did not have any pulse The doctor later pronounced him dead. Both pilots were trapped. As the co-pilot’s pulse was beating, we tried to rescue him first and

then the pilot.

After an hour, we managed to put the co-pilot on a stretcher and carried him to a safe location where doctors administered first aid. After a few minutes, other rescuers also brought the pilot.

There were locals, police and army personnel, foreign doctors and other pilots based in Lukla. What I saw was a disaster. It was chaotic. People lost control, everyone was shouting, there were many people watching, taking photos and passing information from their phones.

I don’t think there was any emergency plan or any kind of preparedness to deal with accidents of this nature at the airport. It’s worth noting that this is one of the most dangerous airports in the world. I think, there should be readiness to deal with such emergency situations at the airport.

We (six of us) were due to fly to Pheriche and walk up to Lobuche today to prepare for the Mt Everest Marathon, but we are now stuck here in Lukla. We hope to catch a helicopter to Gorakshep tomorrow.

(As narrated to THT. Rana is a Gurkha Soldier)