At least 18 people were killed when a small plane crashed and caught fire while it was taking off from Nepal's capital Kathmandu on Wednesday, officials said.

The plane was carrying two crew members and 17 technicians to Pokhara city for maintenance checks.

The Kathmandu Post newspaper said five bodies had been recovered from the crash site. TV footage showed fire fighters trying to put out the fire and thick black smoke rising into the sky.

"It (the plane) caught fire after skidding off the runway at Kathmandu airport and crashing into a field east of the runway," an airport official said.

The plane belonged to local Saurya Airlines, media said. 

Nepal has been criticised for its poor air safety record, with the deadliest incident occurring in 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus crashed into a hillside while approaching Kathmandu, killing 167 people.

Most recently, at least 72 people were killed in a Yeti airlines crash in January 2023 that was later attributed to the pilots mistakenly cutting off power.