A plane crash in Nepal killed all 18 passengers on board on Wednesday and left the pilot injured, police said.

The Saurya Airlines plane crashed during take-off on a test flight from Nepal's capital of Kathmandu to Pokhara.

"Eighteen bodies have been recovered, including one foreigner," police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki told the AFP news agency.

"We are in the process of taking them for post-mortem."

The plane took off and turned right before it crashed in the eastern section of the airport, Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority said.

Kathmandu airport general manager Jagannath Niroula told AFP further details were "still being confirmed."

Footage of the incident showed a large smoke plume with firefighters at the scene.

"Rescue work is going on," Nepal's military said.

Nepal's air safety record

Saurya Airlines operates the Bombardier CRJ 200 regional jet on domestic routes.

"The plane was scheduled to undergo maintenance for a month beginning Thursday ... It is unclear why it crashed," a spokesperson for the carrier said. 

Nepal's aviation sector has a poor safety record due to insufficient training and maintenance.

The European Union has banned all Nepali airlines from its airspace.

zc/rm (AFP, Reuters, AP)