Hope receded for the 14 people aboard a private airline flight as its aircraft carrying tourists crashed near Kathmandu on Tuesday morning and incessant rain prevented rescue teams from reaching the site.

Rescue helicopters readied by the Nepal Army and police waited hopelessly at the Tribhuvan International Airport, unable to take off for Shikharpur village where the 19-seater aircraft flown by domestic carrier Agni Air crashed around 7.45 am.