14 killed as plane crashes on way to Mount Everest

A small passenger plane heading to the Mount Everest region crashed in heavy rain Tuesday outside Nepal's capital, killing all 14 people aboard, including four Americans, a Briton and a Japanese national, officials said.

The private Agni Air plane went down near Shikharpur village, about 80 kilometres south of Kathmandu, area police chief Ram Bahadur Shrestha said.

The German-built Dornier turboprop airplane was carrying 11 passengers and three crew members. It was headed to Lukla – a popular stop for trekkers and mountaineers – when cloud cover there forced it to turn back to Kathmandu.

Tri Ratna Manandhar of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal confirmed there were no survivors. Mr. Manandhar said there were four Americans, one Briton and one Japanese aboard, while the remaining passengers and crew were Nepalese.

Agni Air said the foreigners were tourists. It identified the Americans as Irina Shekhets, 30, Levzi Cordoso, 49, Heather Finch, 40, and Kendra Fallon, 18. The Japanese passenger was Yuki Hayashe, 19, and the British, Jeremy Taylor, 30.