A passenger of the crashed Air Kasthamandap aircraft, Govinda Prasad Adhikari, has recalled how the pilots of the ill-fated plane told the passengers not to panic until the last minute.

Adhikari, a native of Jumla, narrated the circumstances leading to the crash-landing of 9N-AJB aircraft in Chilkhaya, Kalikot district on Friday to Thakur Singh Tharu.

Here is his account: I am from Jumla. I boarded a flight to Jumla at 12:15. We were a few of us in a small aircraft. Everything was okay until 5-10 minutes. Then out of the blue, some uncanny sound was herd in the plane.  We asked the pilot what went wrong? They said, ‘It’s nothing serious. Don’t worry.” But the bizarre sound continued.

The plane went out of balance after the sound occurred for the fourth time. After which the aircraft began to sway in all directions. And then we all began to cry and scream with fear. The plane began to swing between the mountain and forests. I got freaked out and felt I would collapse. But the pilots were telling us not to worry, assuring us to avert anything untoward

Then, all of a sudden, the aircraft went up in the air. I don’t remember what happened after that, I fell consciousness. By the time I regained consciousness, I was already taken out of the plane. And realised I was receiving treatment in a nearby health post. Later, I knew one of the pilots had passed away inside the plane and another one died soon after.

The pilots had been constantly trying to instill hope in us. It's a miracle that they saved us, but could not survive the crash.