ネパール：飛行機墜落、死者18名

　水曜、ネパール首都・カトマンドゥの空港で飛行機が離陸直後に墜落、18名死亡、パイロット1名のみ生存。

BBC Pilot only survivor of Nepal plane crash 2 hours ago

Annabelle Liang and BBC Nepali

　燃料満載状態だったわけだろう、炎上。…まあ、なかなか助からんわな。

「Eighteen people were killed after a plane crashed and caught fire while it was taking off from Nepal's capital, Kathmandu.

The pilot, who is currently receiving treatment in hospital, is the only survivor of Wednesday's fatal accident after being rescued from the burning wreckage.

The Saurya Airlines test flight was carrying 17 company employees, including technical staff, as well as two crew members. It was bound for the Himalayan tourism hub of Pokhara in the country's west.」

　これはテストフライトで、死者は全てエンジニア・技術スタッフなど会社の雇用者たち。一気に喪失して大丈夫な人材じゃない。きっついな。17名はネパール人、1名のみイェメン人が混じっている。

「Seventeen of those who died were Nepali, while one was a Yemeni national, who was working as an engineer.」

「Nepal's aviation industry has a poor safety record that has been attributed to multiple factors over the years, from unpredictable weather to lax regulations.」

　ネパールの航空業界は、まあその、安全性で名高くはない。悪名があると言った方が率直なのだろう。腕が悪いというのではなく、そもそも気象条件からしてよくない。安全管理が緩いというのもそうなのだろうが。

「However, the head of Tribhuvan International Airport said that an initial assessment showed that the plane had flown in the wrong direction.
"As soon as it took off, it turned right, [when it] should have turned left," Mr Niraula told BBC Nepali.

Footage of the incident showed the plane tilting above the runway before crashing into the ground, into flames. It quickly became enveloped in fire and smoke.」

　今回は、なにやら左に飛ぶべきところ右に傾いて飛んで、それで離陸直後の墜落ということで―機材の不調だったりしないかな、と素人目にも疑いを持つ。