A Nepal Airlines plane crashed early Thursday while landing at Jomsom airport, 125 miles northwest of the capital, Katmandu. All 21 passengers survived, but sustained injuries.
Five people, including the pilot, are currently in critical condition, according to police officer Bhim Bahadur Chand, who spoke to the Washington Post.
Of the 21 people on board the Twin Otter plane, eight were tourists from Japan. The rest were Nepali.
Twin Otters are Canadian-built planes that can transport small numbers of passengers, typically around 20. They require short runways for takeoff and landing and are often specially equipped to fly in harsh weather conditions.
The aircraft attempted landing at the airport when it collided into the shore of the Kaligandaki river in the Annapurna mountain range.
Officials managed to extract the passengers, all of whom were injured in some capacity, from the shell of the broken plane.
Rescue teams and police officers transported the injured in individual planes to the city of Pokhara, where they could receive further medical attention.
The aerial fumble occurred during the aircraft's landing-one of the wheels touched the runway, but the plane angled off to the right slightly, hitting the banks of the Kaligandaki.
Police spokesperson Keshav Adhikari told the AFP that the plane crashed due to brake failure.
The airplane's nose was ruined in the accident, but the rear portion was untouched. The left wing was submerged underwater.
"Half of the aircraft's body is in the water and the other half is on the river bank," Adhikari said.
The eight tourists were on their way to a Buddhist pilgrimage site near Muktinath, at the entrance of the Thorong La Himalayan mountain pass.
Fifteen, including 13 Indian tourists, died in May 2012 at the same airport, when a plane crashed into the runway while landing.
