Plane Crash Survivor Says Don't Drink, Sleep on Flights if You Want to Live
One of the passengers who survived the recent plane crash in Nepal said he managed to not only surivive but also save others because he did not sleep or drink during the flight.
"I was able to grab on to my seat during the crash, quickly release seat belts, spring up from the seat and have the sense to force open the emergency door because I was alert," Dayaram Tamrakar, a Nepali travel agent who was on the flight from Dhaka, Bangladesh, told the Associated Press.
He credited the fact he able to think so quickly on his feet and break down the emergency exit as the reasons he lived.
Keep up with this story and more by subscribing now
Tamrakar was speaking from was hospital bed after being one of 22 people who managed to surive the crash.
A total of 49 people were killed after the US-Bangla Airlines flight crashed as it was attempting to land at the airport in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu.
Tamrakar also described the panic from all the passengers after realising the plane was flying too low just before it crashed into the airport and caught fire.
"People were calling for help and praying. I could hear some people saying Allah, Allah," he said. "It was chaotic and confusing situation after the crash."
Others who survived the crash currently being treated at various hospitals across Kathmandu have described the ordeal. Shorna Huggain, from Bangladesh, told the Associated Press how she became pinned to her seat following the crash before being rescued by her husband.
"I thought I was going to die because I inhaled a lot of smoke, but I did not want to die," Huggain said from her hospital bed. "Finally, my husband was able to pull me out of the plane, and moments later it burst into flames."
An investigation has been launched to determine what caused the crash, with officials in Kathmandu and the airline both blaming each other.
The airport’s general manager claims pilot did not follow the control tower's instructions and approached the runway from the wrong direction, while US-Bangla Airlines officials saying it was the air traffic controller who sent the plane the wrong way.