An Air Kasthamandap flight bound for Jumla from Nepalgunj crash landed in Kalikot district on Friday, killing both pilots and injuring all nine passengers onboard.

The pilot, Dinesh Neupane, had apparently given a warning to the passengers before crash landing, according to injured passengers onboard the aircraft.

“There seems to be some problem with the plane but do not panic. We will land the airplane in a safe place. We’ll make sure nothing happens to you even if it costs us our lives,” assistant health worker Junga Bahadur Rawal of Chilkhaya health post, involved in treating the injured passengers, quoted them as saying.

Minutes after the warning, the aircraft went down, killing Neupane upon impact. Co-pilot Santosh Rana died an hour later.

“He was in constant pain after the accident. We did all we could but couldn’t save him. Maybe he could have been saved if we had reached the site of accident on time,” said Rawal, who had rushed to the site with three other health workers after hearing about the crash.

According to eyewitness Nanda Katuwal, the aircraft landed in a field. “The airplane dove nose-first on the field, and the doors of the aircraft opened automatically. The passengers were all injured,” said Katuwal.

One of the passengers, Laxman Khadka, remains in critical condition, while the remaining passengers have been taken to Nepalgunj for treatment.

This incident was the second deadly plane crash this week. A Tara Air twin Otter in a Pokhara-Jomsom flight had crashed in Myagdi on Wednesday.