Nepal airport closed after plane skids off runway

Nepal’s only international airport was closed yesterday after a plane skidded off the recently repaired runway, injuring two people, officials said. The Yeti Airlines ATR 72-500, arriving into Kathmandu from southern Nepal with 66 passengers, skidded about 15 metres (yards) into the grass. Airport’s general manager Raj Kumar Chettri said that removing the Franco-Italian-made turboprop plane was taking a long time because heavy rain has made the area muddy. The Himalayan nation has some of the world’s most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge for even accomplished pilots.