Dhaka, July 26 -- A Kathmandu court has ordered Dhaka-based US-Bangla Airlines to pay $2.74 million (Rs 378.60 million) in compensation to the families of 17 Nepali victims of the March 12, 2018, Flight 211 crash at Tribhuvan International Airport, which killed 51 of the 71 people on board.

Citing gross negligence and wilful misconduct, including the pilot's questionable mental state, the court held the airline liable for the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Bangladeshi carrier and a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.

This landmark verdict marks Nepal's first successful air crash compensation case in its 70-year history of aviation incidents, which have claimed approximately 964 lives across 70 crashes, often due to negligence.

The decisio...