KATHMANDU As bodies from a fatal air crash in Nepal two days earlier were still being recovered, another plane went down Feb. 26 in a mountain village. The two accidents left 25 people dead, raised safety concerns and dealt a new blow to the country's tourism sector, which was just recovering from several powerful earthquakes last year.
On Feb. 24, a Tara Air Twin Otter carrying 20 passengers and three crew members crashed into a hill in central Nepal, killing all on board. Two days later, a single-engine plane operated by Air Kasthamandap, one of Nepal's dozen private airlines, crash-landed in a field in a remote village in the northwest, killing the pilot and co-pilot. The nine passengers survived with injuries. Initial reports suggested the pilots made an emergency landing after discovering a technical fault.
