Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) on Wednesday expressed its condolence over the air crash at Lukla airport which killed 18 people on board.

"It is a big shock for us to know about the tragic incident of aircrash at Lukla in the morning of October 8, 2008. Nepal Tourism Board expresses its heartfelt condolence to all bereaved family members of deceased persons. May their souls rest in peace," the NTB said in a press statement.

A twin Ottor plane of Yeti Airlines of Nepal carrying 16 passenger and three crew members crashed on landing at Tenzing Hillary Airport in Lukla in the southern side of Mt. Chomolungma in Nepal, at 7:21 a.m. (0136 GMT) on Wednesday.

The aircraft, flying from Kathmandu to Lukla in eastern Nepal, bursted into flames after crash-landing on the sloping airstrip. The airport is 140 km northeast of Nepali capital Kathmandu.

Despite bad weather, a rescue helicopter has been dispatched at 10:21 a.m. (0436 GMT). A rescue operation is being undertaken by army at the airport.

Nepali pilot Mr. Surendra Kumar Kunwar is survived. Of the 19 passengers on the plane, 14 are foreigners and five Nepalis.

Name of deceased persons are as follows, according to Nepal Tourism Board press release, two Australians named Mr. A. Frick and Ms. C. Katc, 12 Germans named Ms. Monika Wiess, Mr. Harry Wiess, Ms.Andrea Thielek, Mr. Thomas Krause, Ms. Silke Krause, Mr. Uwe Thiele, Mr. Thorsten Berger, Mr. Andreas Blomke, Ms. Sabine Blomke, Ms. Nadine Jankoster, Ms. Annelotte Langanke and Mr. Johannes Sauter, two Nepali passengers named Mr. Santosh Adhikari and Mr. Gobinda Sharma, and Nepali crew member Bikash Pant, Nepali air hostess Ms. Sunita Shrestha.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2008)