KATHMANDU (AFP) - A small passenger plane crashed on landing Wednesday morning in Nepal's Everest region, killing 18 people believed to be mostly German tourists, Nepalese officials said.

"A Yeti Airlines plane has crashed at Lukla airport while it was landing," said airport official Mohan Adhikari.

Of the 19 passengers on the plane, 14 were foreigners and five were Nepalese and only one Nepalese survived, said Adhikari.

"Twelve German and two Swiss people were on the passenger manifest, and we are trying to confirm this as the passengers may have changed," said Adhikari.

The aircraft, flying from Kathmandu to Lukla in eastern Nepal, caught fire after it crashlanded on the sloping airstrip, said Suraj Kunwar, a local journalist at the scene.

"It took locals and security forces about two hours to put out the fire," said Kunwar.

When the weather is clear, dozens of flights land daily at Lukla's Tenzing-Hillary airport, the gateway to Nepal's Everest region used by thousands of trekkers and mountaineers
  

 Source: Yahoo News

 ( http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081008/wl_asia_afp/nepaltourismaccidentaviationgermany;_ylt=AlbOagIoLZyodp1SpszC1MABxg8F)