UAE leaders offer condolences to Nepal president over deadly plane crash

President Sheikh Mohamed has sent a message of condolences to President Ramchandra Paudel of Nepal over the plane crash that killed 18 people on board.

A small passenger plane belonging to the South Asian country's Saurya Airlines crashed and caught fire while taking off from the capital Kathmandu on Wednesday. Only the captain survived, officials said.

The 50-seater plane, carrying two crew members and 17 technicians, was heading for regular maintenance to Nepal's new Pokhara airport, which is equipped with aircraft maintenance hangars, the officials said.

"Shortly after takeoff ... the aircraft veered off to the right and crashed on the east side of the runway," the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice-President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, also conveyed their sympathies to the Nepalese president.