Miscommunication over the landing runway may be to blame for the Kathmandu plane crash that killed at least 49 people.
ADVERTISEMENTAnxious relatives gather in the offices of Dhaka-based US-Bangla Airlines, waiting for news of the passengers aboard a plane that crashed in Nepal on Monday.
Authorities say at least 49 of the 71 people on board were killed when the aircraft veered off the runway at Kathmandu airport.
US-Bangla's CEO, Imran Asif says the airport could be to blame.
"We cannot claim this definitely at the moment but we are suspecting that the Kathmandu ATC (air traffic control) tower might have misled our pilots to land on the wrong runway."
Airport officials, however, say controllers asked pilots to change their direction of approach but were ignored.
A recording of the conversation suggests confusion about which end of the runway the aircraft was cleared to land on.
Just minutes later, the plane swerved erratically and flew dangerously low before crashing and erupting in flames.
The Kathmandu Medical College says it is treating 16 survivors.